Santa  Ana, 


THE  PIANIST 


AND 


THE  ART  OF  MUSIC 


A  TREATISE  ON  PIANO  PLAYING  FOR 
TEACHERS  AND  STUDENTS 


BY 


ADOLPH  CARPE. 


LYON  &  HEALY, 

CHICAGO. 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


Copyright,  1893, 
By  ADOLPH  CARPE. 


Music 
Library 

Mr 


INTRODUCTION 

TECHNIC 7 

FINGERING 26 

EXPRESSION 41 

CHARACTER 70 

OUTLINE  OF  PIANO  LITERATURE 89 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  pian.'st's  relation  to  the  art  of  music  is  in  our 
present  age  materially  different  from  that  of  the 
earlier  virtuosos,  not  so  much  on  account  of  greater 
skill  in  the  management  of  the  improved  instrument 
as  in  reference  to  the  ends  which  the  artist  is  ex- 
pected to  accomplish.  The  piano-virtuoso,  whose 
efforts  were  of  an  individual  type  altogether,  follow- 
ing a  long  line  of  eminent  players  and  composers 
(Scarlatti,  Mozart,  dementi,  Dussek,  Woelfl,  Stei- 
belt,  Gramer,  Hummel,  Field,  Herz,  Thalberg,  etc.) 
has,  in  the  natural  process  of  development,  made 
room  to  the  pianists,  whose  strength  rests  in  the 
reproduction  of  the  works  of  other  masters,  such  as 
Liszt,  Mendelssohn,  Clara  Schumann,  Reinecke,  Hil- 
ler,  Halle,  Rubinstein,  Buelow,  Essipoff,  D'Albert, 
Paderewski  and  others.  The  increasing  beauty  and 
artistic  variety  of  the  masterworks  of  piano  litera- 
ture seem  destined  to  gain  a  constantly  increasing 
influence  in  this  direction,  so  that  an  adequate  read- 
ing of  the  gems  of  pianistic  art  will  always  be  con- 
sidered superior  to  the  ephemeral,  though  perhaps 
novel  display  of  individual  taste  and  talent. 

Franz  Liszt,  the  most  eminent  and  successful  of 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

the  piano  virtuosos,  was  one  of  the  first  to  devote  all 
the  energy  of  his  genial  nature  to  the  reproduction 
of  the  better  works  from  the  days  of  Scarlatti,  Bach 
and  Haendel  to  his  time;  all  the  notable  great 
pianists  have  since  taken  special  pride  in  introducing 
to  the  art-loving  world  the  works  of  the  great  com- 
posers. Some  have  made  a  specialty  of  one  particu- 
lar composer,  notably  Beethoven  and  Mozart;  others 
have  devoted  their  efforts  successfully  to  several 
composers,  and  the  possibility  has  been  demon- 
strated more  than  once  that  works  of  widely  differ- 
ent characteristic  traits  are  accessible  to  the  same 
artist,  so  that  they  receive  fully  adequate  readings. 
Few  programs  are  found  nowadays  where  the  names 
of  our  great  composers  and  a  host  of  others  do  not 
find  place. 

In  this  undeniable  and  praiseworthy  advance- 
ment the  pianist's  relation  to  the  art  of  music  has 
become  more  intimate;  the  mechanical  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  instrument  is  of  a  higher  order;  the  in- 
tellectual and  emotional  qualifications  of  the  per- 
former are  made  subservient  to  a  versatile  trustiness 
in  reproduction  which,  through  the  details  of  musical 
tcclinic  and  expression,  represents  the  character  of  a 
particular  work  according  to  the  general  style  and 
manner  of  the  composer. 


TECHNIC. 


THE  opinion  has  been  gaining  ground  among 
thinking  teachers,  that  piano  students  waste  too 
much  time  and  energy  with  studies  of  all  grades  and 
kinds,  from  the  prolific  Carl  Czerny  down  to  the 
present  day;  the  conviction  seems  to  be  fairly  estab- 
lished that  a  careful  selection  among  the  whole  host 
of  exercises  and  study-books  would  condemn  most 
of  them  as  superfluous,  if  not  useless.  The  whole 
system  of  exercises  which  to  the  present  day  pre- 
dominates in  pianoforte  instruction  is  certainly 
based  upon  the  theory  that  piano  playing  is  essen- 
tially a  mechanical  art.  This  inference  to  a  limited 
extent  is  true,  since  piano  playing  to  a  period  not 
far  distant  is  almost  solely  mechanical,  and  progress 
in  the  early  stages  is  made  too  often  by  only  stick- 
ing at  it. 

The  greater  part  of  all  these  exercises  brings  long 
strings  of  figures  and  rhythms  in  never  varying  com- 
binations and  repetitions,  which  are  supposed  to 
give  a  lasting  impression  to  the  student's  mind  and 
fingers.  Truly  their  success  in  impressing  the  aver- 
age student's  mind  can  not  be  doubted;  after 
wrangling  and  struggling  in  the  ordinary  way  of 
"  established  methods,"  the  student  is  so  firmly 
imbued  with  the  mechanical  side  of  piano  playing, 

7 


8  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

that  his  reproductions  of  the  very  gems  of  our  piano 
literature,  old  or  new,  fail  to  reveal  often  the  faintest 
trace  of  ideal  meaning  or  feeling.  Yet  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  such  results  are  usually  obtained? 
A  child  which  has  been  drilled — though  to  perfection 
almost — only  in  the  spelling  book,  whose  highest 
attainment  might  prove  the  victory  over  words  like 
"  procrastination,"  would  fail  just  as  truly  in  an 
attempt  at  reading  a  small  sentence  with  proper 
emphasis,  as  a  result  of  thought;  yet  the  child  enters 
the  school  with  the  already  formed  power  of  speech. 

The  careful  gradation  of  exercises  accomplishes 
the  student's  progress  almost  imperceptibly;  they 
have  been  manufactured  mostly  for  the  purpose  of 
furnishing  an  easy  grade  to  the  mediocre  student. 
Musical  thought  and  feeling  receive  little  or  no  con- 
sideration; commonplace  matter  mostly  is  what  they 
contain,  at  all  times  injurious  to  the  intellectual  and 
emotional  qualifications  the  student  originally  brings 
to  his  task.  Their  object  is  to  produce  in  the  dili- 
gent worker  a  certain  mechanical  skill;  and  technic 
being  the  most  coveted  of  all  the  prerequisites  of  a 
good  pianist,  the  number  of  their  admirers  and  wor- 
shipers is,  indeed,  legion. 

Technic!  What  is  technic?  It  is  the  sum  and 
substance  of  all  that  is  required  to  produce  or  repro- 
duce a  work  of  art,  therefore  the  product  of  the 
student's  work,  and  as  such  it  will  represent  all  that 
the  student  acquires  by  thorough  systematic  training. 

In  pianoforte  playing  the  term  technic  is  gener- 
ally applied  to  the  merely  mechanical  treatment  of 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  9 

the  instrument  and  the  skill  and  rapidity  in  execu- 
tion. As  a  means  of  musical  reproduction,  which 
must  be  the  student's  final  aim,  there  are  several 
other  things  which  fall  under  this  head.  Besides 
digital  skill  this  includes  tone-development  in  all  its 
various  grades  and  shades,  a  thorough  and  correct 
understanding  and  rendition  of  time  and  rhythm, 
and  lastly  an  increased  musical  appreciation  of  the 
meaning,  character  and  emotional  tendency  of  a 
composition. 

A  great  amount  of  digital  skill  is  required,  and  in 
the  exclusive  attention  to  this  indeed  most  essential 
factor  in  piano  playing,  students  and  teachers  too 
often  forget  that  much  theoretical  advice  may,  and 
must,  go  hand  in  hand  with  finger  training.  Musical 
education  should  prepare  also  the  intellectual  appre- 
ciation of  the  student,  and  much  can  be  accomplished 
by  giymg  the  pupil,  even  at  an  early  stage,  an  in- 
sight into  the  particular  means  required  to  bring  a 
performance  in  close  relationship  with  the  character 
of  the  composition  and  so  make  it  truly  enjoyable. 
A  modicum  of  intellect  and  feeling  can  be  early  de- 
veloped in  the  average  piano  student,  which,  when 
carefully  fostered,  will  in  course  of  time  in  a  great 
measure  overcome  the  mechanical  tendency  of  piano 
playing,  will  lead  to  a  more  elevated  enjoyment,  to  a 
better  defined  outline  of  character  and  to  a  healthy 
glow  of  artistic  individuality. 

It  should  always  be  borne  in  mind  that,  as  music 
is  the  language  of  emotion,  the  musical  education 
must  strive  to  arouse  the  dormant  energy  of  feeling, 


io  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

as  well  as  to  sharpen  the  intellectual  faculties.  This 
craves  a  greater  attention  in  the.  piano  student,  from 
the  fact  that  the  modus  of  acquiring  skill  in  playing 
will  always  remain  morj  or  less  a  mechanical  pro- 
cess. Touch,  time  and  correct  motion  are  the  ele- 
mentary prerequisites;  musical  notation  and  rhythm, 
according  to  grade,  follow  immediately,  and  the 
pupil's  first  step  in  musical  parlance,  little  pieces, 
can  be  selected  so  as  to  appeal  more  or  less  strongly 
to  his  intelligence  and  feeling. 

When  the  student  in  the  first  stages  of  instruction 
has  acquired  a  reposeful  position  of  the  forearm,  the 
fingers  may  be  more  or  less  pliable,  according  to  the 
physical  development,  but  attention  should  be  given 
most  carefully  to  the  mode  and  manner  of  touch. 
The  finger  must  press  only  (not  strike)  with  as  little 
effort  as  possible,  and  complete  restfulness  must  be 
obtained  at  the  moment  of  touch.  A  merely 
mechanical  process  this,  certainly!  The  student, 
however,  should  be  made  to  feel  that  this  touch 
implies  an  impressive  treatment,  and  his  mind  must 
be  impressed  before  you  can  get  any  expression. 

Awaken  the  ideas  of  different  ways  of  touching; 
the  allusion  to  ideas,  natural  or  latent,  in  the  student 
will  greatly  facilitate  the  teacher's  effort.  If  you 
compare  this  pressure-touch  to  the  loving  caress  of 
a  dear  friend,  you  will  give  the  student  a  distinct 
idea,  and  in  all  likelihood  he  will  establish  a  more 
intimate  feeling  with  the  mechanical  motion.  Such 
a  touch,  close  and  clinging,  varied  in  intensity 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  student,  will,  in  course 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  n 

of  time,  shape  itself  into  the  most  perfect  means  for 
tone  production,  will  be  delicate  or  powerful,  singing 
or  crisp  as  occasion  requires,  when  the  player's 
musical  progress  is  sufficiently  advanced  to  adapt 
the  touch  to  the  vital  elements  and  characterization 
in  music. 

Two-finger  exercises  are  the  most  thriving  means 
for  the  development  of  a  good  touch,  digital  fa- 
cility and  correct  time.  Has  the  student's  mind 
grasped  the  idea  of  an  equal  division  of  time,  two- 
finger  exercises  in  half,  quarter  and  eighth  notes  will 
soon  establish,  these  values  as  time  measures,  and 
some  patience  will  see  them  correctly  applied. 
Two-finger  exercises  should  be  practiced  daily  for 
their  three-fold  value  in  regard  to  touch,  time  and 
execution,  first  on  white  keys  only,  later  alternating 
with  black  keys.  Care  should  be  taken,  more 
especially  where  black  keys  are  employed,  that  there 
be  perfect  equality  in  tone  production,  that  there 
is  no  discrimination  in  the  length  of  tone — induce 
the  student  early  to  a  little  self-criticism;  necessary 
also  is  a  good  position  of  the  hand  and  a  uniform 
finger  movement. 

When  the  student  first  comes  to  the  keyboard  it 
is  sometimes  difficult  to  obtain  a  correct  and  repose- 
ful position.  It  is  in  this  as  well  as  in  later  stages 
of  piano  playing  that  the  thumb  plays  an  all-impor- 
tant part.  The  thumb  moves  from  the  first  joint — 
near  the  wrist — and  should  touch  the  key  with  the 
side  between  the  third  joint  and  the  tip.  If  this  is 
strictly  adhered  to,  so  that  the  thumb  is  allowed  to 


12  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

strike  near  the  tip  only  in  figures  of  a  wider  pattern, 
the  wrist  and  forearm  will  fall  into  position  natu- 
rally, provided  the  player  sits  neither  too  high  nor  too 
low.  If  this  is  considered  inconvenient  by  students 
who  desire  a  high  seat,  a  short  trial  will  generally 
be  convincing  to  them. 

The  development  of  touch,  time  and  execution 
are  at  first  closely  connected,  and,  though  in  the 
next  stages  these  factors  still  go  hand  in  hand,  each 
requires  a  more  distinct  and  separate  treatment. 
The  touch  wrill  continue  to  improve  best  in  the  two- 
finger  exercises,  and  a  more  momentary  rise  and  fall 
of  the  fingers  without  jerking  should  be  cultivated 
with  the  utmost  repose  at  the  moment  of  touch,  so 
as  to  obtain  a  genuine  legato.  The  training  of  the 
student  in  notation  meanwhile  has  progressed  so 
that  little  pieces  with  easy  rhythms  can  be  taken  into 
consideration.  The  easier  the  pieces  the  more 
should  the  student  be  left  to  find  his  way,  as  the 
teacher  at  this  period  is  only  responsible  for  a  cor- 
rect reading,  a  good  position  of  the  hands,  proper 
fingering  and  time.  Variety  in  shading  had  best 
not  be  attempted  too  soon,  but  the  striving  for  cor- 
rect time  must  include  all;  even  the  last  notes  must 
be  given  their  full  value,  and  rests  should  not  give 
occasion  for  hurrying.  Many  otherwise  good  piano 
players  indulge  in  liberties  of  this  kind,  where  fault 
could  not  easily  be  found  with  a  musician  or  one 
whose  musical  education  has  been  of  a  high  order. 
Everything  at  an  early  stage  of  progress  should  be 
done  as  thoroughly  and  correctly  by  the  student  as 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  13 

possible;  but  as  every  pupil  differs  from  another, 
there  will  be  occasionally  a  wide  margin  left. 

When  the  student  begins  to  find  more  pleasure 
in  any  piece,  take  more  pains  with  it,  play  it  to  give 
a  simple  shading  and  expression,  and  so  arouse  more 
interest  in  the  pupil;  let  him  memorize  and  finish 
with  at  least  a  noticeable  change  in  piano  and  forte. 
Always  insist  on  slow  practice  and  playing,  and  con- 
stantly keep  some  of  the  pieces  that  have  been 
memorized  in  view,  for  "repetitio  est  mater  stiidiorum" 

To  more  properly  advance  the  execution,  scales 
and  broken  chords  have  soon  to  be  employed  along 
with  the  two-finger  exercises.  All  material  of  this 
kind  should  be  thoroughly  studied,  the  rules  for 
each  pattern  pointed  out  and  made  familiar  and  the 
fingering  should  be  intrinsically  a  part  of  each  new 
evolution.  Let  the  student's  mind  be  active  in  all 
mechanical  work,  make  small  use  of  books  and  the 
student  will  be  better  able  to  classify  and  systematize. 

It  seems  not  amiss  to  state  here  that,  when  more 
varied  rhythms  are  introduced  in  the  pieces,  the  la- 
bor bestowed  on  a  single  rhythmical  figure,  which 
remains  for  a  time  obdurate,  will  for  the  future  be  a 
great  gain  musically;  no  pains  should  be  spared  to 
obtain  at  an  early  stage  a  rhythmical  precision 
which  will  leave  a  lasting  impression  on  the  stu- 
dent's mind. 

The  use  of  pieces  exclusively  at  an  early  stage  of 
the  student's  progress  as  an  educational  means  to 
obtain  a  proper  knowledge  of  musical  characteristics, 
can  not  be  too  highly  recommended,  provided  that 


14  THE    PIANIST  S    ART. 

they  are  selected  in  regard  to  their  efficiency  as  a 
means  of  musical  expression  as  well  as  to  their 
pleasing  effect  on  the  student.  Their  use  should  be 
continued  regularly  along  with  the  labor  requisite 
for  the  mechanical  mastery  of  the  keyboard;  as  the 
latter  progresses  it  will  even  be  advisable  to  bring 
the  pieces  (and  musical  characteristics)  more  to  the 
foreground.  The  mechanical  resources  will  continue 
to  grow  after  they  have  been  thoroughly  understood, 
and  a  comparatively  small  amount  of  attention  will 
be  sufficient  to  keep  the  student  on  the  right  road 
and  to  prevent  bad  habits  or  faults  of  any  kind. 

The  pieces  should  be  selected  with  some  care, 
mainly  for  their  musical  value  and  pleasing  char- 
acter, and  a  certain  gradation  should  be  observed, 
in  such  a  way  that  the  student  proceeds  from  some- 
thing familiar  to  what  is  new  to  him.  The  interest 
will  thus  be  kept  wide  awake,  so  that,  even  if  marked 
transitions  occur  in  the  mechanical  skill  necessary 
for  a  correct  rendition,  the  labor  required  for  these 
acquisitions  will  give  small  trouble. 

When  wrist  studies  are  introduced  the  wrist 
should  be  slightly  lower  than  the  knuckles,  and  the 
fingers  strictly  curved.  The  practice  of  octaves  with 
hand  extended,  by  simple  movement  of  the  first  and 
fifth  finger  is  sometimes  advisable;  the  great  tension 
required  to  reach  the  two  points  of  the  octave  will 
make  this  mode  of  practice,  with  a  quiet  hand  and 
wrist,  particularly  valuable  for  players  with  small 
hands. 

It  can  not  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  much 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  15 

attention  should  be  given  to  rouse  in  the  student 
both  the  intellectual  and  emotional  qualities,  which 
will  prove  that  the  ideal  purpose  of  a  composition  is 
sincerely  appreciated.  Vocal  students  experience 
much  less  difficulty  in  determining  the  poetical 
meaning  of  a  composition.  The  living  word  gives 
them  a  more  definite  idea,  and  the  tendency  is  gen- 
erally so  plain  that  little  comment  is  necessary.  In 
instrumental  music  much  is  indefinite  and,  unaccom- 
panied by  a  text  that  familiarizes  the  meaning,  this 
must  necessarily  be  more  or  less  clouded,  and  the 
difficultyto  find  the  right  shade  of  expression  is 
naturally  increased.  Violinists  and  performers  on 
all  instruments,  where  the  tone  is  produced  directly 
by  the  player,  have  from  the  very  nature  of  this 
process  an  advantage  even  in  this  over  the  pianist, 
whose  tone  is  ready  and  produced  by  indirect  means. 
A  student  of  average  ability  will,  however,  hardly 
fail  to  discriminate  at  first  between  widely  different 
characteristics  of  emotion,  and  he  will  soon  learn  to 
give  a  reading  that  is  more  than  merely  intellectual 
to  such  selections  as  carry  the  conviction  of  a  very 
definite  meaning  on  the  face  of  them. 

Students  should  all  be  taught  alike;  whether  they 
study  for  pleasure,  to  make  home  life  enjoyable,  or 
with  an  artistic  purpose,  their  training  ought  to  be 
the  same,  and  the  difference  should  only  be  found 
in  the  value  of  their  individual  performances.  Artis- 
tic training  is  only  a  higher  grade  of  general  musical 
education,  which  is  attainable  to  all,  and  it  seems 
unwarranted  to  exclude  a  student  from  the  advan- 


16  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

tage  of  a  better  musical  education,  which  may  enable 
him  to  find  the  right  field  for  his  talent.  Would  it 
not  be  fully  as  unreasonable  as  to  train  every  stu- 
dent to  be  an  artist  and  composer? 

Music  of  a  higher  order  should  therefore  be  se- 
lected, such  as  will  constantly  appeal  to  every  stu- 
dent's intellect  and  feeling.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary, 
or  even  desirable,  to  feed  pupils  on  classical  litera- 
ture only.  Much  has  been  written  of  a  lighter  char- 
acter, which  is  well  worth  the  learning,  and  truly 
enjoyable.  The  greater  the  variety  of  composers 
and  compositions  that  come  within  reach  of  the  stu- 
dent's aim,  the  greater  will  be  the  benefit  to  his 
musical  development,  provided  every  composition 
is  thoroughly  studied  and  appreciated.  The  great 
object  of  the  teacher  must  be  to  elevate  the  pupil's 
taste,  to  strengthen  the  intellectual  faculties  and 
arouse  the  feeling;  to  gain  this  object  and  at  the 
same  time  the  pupil's  appreciation  of  his  efforts,  he 
must  put  himself  on  a  level  with  the  pupil,  and  if 
a  good  selection  strikes  at  all  a  congenial  spirit  in 
the  pupil,  the  interest  in  good  music  is  bound  to 
grow  if  the  student's  inclination  to  certain  charac- 
teristics is  not  altogether  disregarded. 

As  the  student's  intellectual  faculties  increase 
and  his  ability  to  reproduce  certain  well  defined 
characteristic  qualities  progresses,  give  ample  illus- 
trations in  the  matter  of  phrasing  and  the  different 
grades  and  qualities  of  touch.  As  a  child  can  be 
taught  to  speak  a  piece  of  poetry  with  some  natural 
grace  and  meaning,  so  the  average  music  student 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  I/ 

can  be  led  to  distinctly  articulate  musical  phrases 
and  rhythms.  Little  may  be  accomplished  at  the 
outset,  still  the  attention  should  be  aroused  and  kept 
on  the  alert.  A  theoretical  knowledge  at  this  stage 
of  the  student's  progress  of  the  construction  and 
symmetrical  build  of  the  composition  will  be  of 
great  advantage  in  determining  the  general  outline 
for  simple  and  rudimentary  phrasing.  As  the  rhyth- 
mic, melodic  and  harmonic  motives  begin  to  display 
more  clearness,  the  student  will  attempt  to  give 
them  more  definite  meaning  and  shading,  and  will 
perhaps  develop  a  spark  of  artistic  temperament. 

Phrasing,  even  artistic  phrasing,  is  something  that 
can  be  taught  thoroughly;  as  long  as  the  phrases  are 
more  congruent  with  the  metrical  and  rhythmical 
constituents  of  a  composition,  as  is  generally  the 
case  in  classic  works,  no  serious  difficulty  will  be 
encountered.  In  compositions  of  a  romantic  order, 
metrical  and  rhythmical  construction  is  much  inter- 
laced with  musical  phrases,  characteristic  accents  are 
heaped  together,  sometimes  seemingly  foreign  to  the 
even  flow  of  thought.  Beethoven,  in  his  later  works, 
and  Schubert  open  this  new  field  for  expression,  and 
with  Schumann  it  is  one  of  the  chief  characteristics; 
for  this  reason,  probably,  the  latter  composer  has 
spared  no  pains  to  make  his  phrasing  as  plain  as 
musical  notation  would  permit  in  his  time. 

Phrasing  in  classic  compositions,  where  greater 
perfection  of  form  enhances  the  beauty,  is  more  a 
matter  of  refined  intelligence;  inasmuch  as  in  these 

works  emotional  qualities  are  certainly  latent,  but  do 
2 


i8  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

not  for  expression  appeal  to  any  definite  chord  in 
the  human  soul.  In  compositions  which  appeal  more 
directly  to  the  imagination,  as  is  the  case  with  works 
of  the  romantic  order,  phrasing  seems  more  an  out- 
growth of  a  distinct  feeling,  and  depends  largely  upon 
the  temperament,  the  emotional  qualifications  and 
the  discriminating  abilities  of  the  student. 

Touch,  as  a  means  of  tone  production,  and  the 
interpreter's  most  valuable  medium  for  expression, 
requires  much  thought  and  study.  To  become  a 
master  of  all  the  various  grades  and  shades'of  touch 
is  a  laborious  task;  for  the  strong  to  produce  a  tone 
that  is  replete  with  delicate  refinement,  to  instill 
power  and  vigor  into  delicate  hands,  to  bring  repose 
to  the  restless  and  awaken  energy  in  a  lethargic  tem- 
perament, is  all  important.  Is  the  physical  power 
at  last  brought  under  control — and  the  long  line  of 
pianists  that  have  succeeded  in  this  should  give  en- 
couragement in  untiring  efforts — the  pianist's  tem- 
perament and  intellect  are  called  upon  for  each  shade 
of  tone.  Good  examples,  that  furnish  in  musical 
characteristics  solid  food  for  the  student's  intellect- 
ual training,  will  in  time  give  a  versatility  in  touch, 
which  is  essential  in  an  artistic  reproduction.  The 
pianist's  last  achievement  is  to  put  life  into  his  touch ; 
in  the  sympathetic  intercourse  of  his  inner  life  with 
his  hearers,  he  must  strive  to  make  convincing  to 
them  through  his  touch  what  is  alive  in  his  artistic 
conception. 

The  touch  in  itself  should  always  be  spontaneous, 
that  is,  proceeding  from  natural  feeling,  tempera- 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  IQ 

ment  or  disposition,  or  from  an  internal  tendency 
without  either  compulsion  or  constraint.  Has  the 
student  acquired  a  proper  insight  into  the  intellect- 
ual and  emotional  qualities  of  the  composer's  work, 
the  special  mode  of  touch  will  be  regulated  by 'his 
natural  feeling,  guided  by  the  artistic  taste  which 
has  been  developed.  Touch,  in  a  higher  sense,  is 
the  natural  consequence  of  the  musical  growth  in 
feeling  and  intellect;  an  inexhaustible  variety  is  at 
the  player's  command,  and  experience  will  by  and 
by  become  a  valuable  and  reliable  guide. 

In  all  the  varieties  of  touch  there  must  be  sev- 
eral uniform  elements.  Whether  fingers  or  arm  use 
a  high  elevation  or  touch  almost  resting  on  the  keys, 
the  movement  itself  should  be  quick  as  thought,  sin- 
cere in  purpose  and  full  of  repose.  As  in  execution 
the  least  exertion  insures  the  best  effect,  so  in  touch 
the  concentration  of  the  effort  to  a  minimum  will 
increase  the  beauty  of  tone.  If  the  word  "touch" 
signifies  not  only  the  attack,  but  includes  throughout 
the  connection  of  finger  and  key  to  the  relieve,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  finger  continues 
the  pressure  in  complete  repose  and  that  the  relieve- 
ment  should  be  accomplished  in  a  perfectly  unaf- 
fected manner,  that  is,  without  changing  to  that  end 
the  position  of  either  hand  or  wrist.  Who  is  not 
aware  that  many  of  our  amateur  pianists  in  reliev- 
ing the  key  contrive  to  "gracefully"  pull  up  the 
fingers  by  the  wrist,  a  sort  of  conventional  inclina- 
tion for  saying  "  good-bye!  " 

If  the  elementary  parts  of  technic  have  been  cor- 


2O  THE    PIANISTS    ART. 

rectly  understood  and  thoroughly  practiced,  time, 
rhythm  and  execution  will  improve  in  good  order  if 
the  teacher  quickly  notices  what  needs  special  care, 
and  takes  proper  steps  to  correct  what  is  wrong  and 
to  improve  what  is  amiss.  There  will  always  be 
students  more  or  less  subject  to  weakness  in  one  or 
another  of  the  essential  elements  of  technic,  for  the 
model  student  is  still  to  be  found,  whose  exceptional 
qualities  would  enable  him  to  reach  a  high  grade  in 
every  branch  of  the  art  without  encountering  greater 
or  lesser  obstacles  in  one  or  another  direction.  Ex- 
perience proves  that  to  go  to  the  root  of  the  evil  and 
remedy  what  is  wanting,  fundamentally,  gives 
always  the  quickest  and  best  cure,  but  it  generally 
requires  patience  and  perseverance  of  a  higher 
order,  both  in  the  student  and  teacher.  Where  a 
fundamental  cure  is  not  admissible,  recourse  to  other 
means  must  be  had,  and  it  is  in  such  emergency  that 
the  studies,  which  have  been  written  to  assist  the 
diligent  student  in  his  efforts  to  overcome  special 
defects,  must  be  employed  to  remedy  the  evil.  The 
selection  must  be  made  with  the  particular  object  in 
view,  and  the  practice  continued  until  this  result  has 
been  fairly  well  accomplished.  Even  where  the 
fundamental  cure  is  employed,  such  exercises  may 
be  used  sparingly  as  a  diet  to  prevent  a  relapse. 

Reading  at  sight  is  an  accomplishment  which  is 
not  always  a  natural  gift,  and  little  can  be  done  at 
first  to  acquire  it,  since  the  defect  is  not  alone  one 
of  the  eye;  the  cause  in  most  cases  seems  to  be  an 
unsatisfactory  co-operation  of  eye,  intellect  and 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  21 

fingers.  After  a  fair  amount  of  skill  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  keyboard  has  been  acquired,  some  time 
daily  should  be  devoted  to  reading,  beginning  with 
the  simplest  little  pieces,  the  easiest  arrangements 
of  popular  songs,  such  as  are  found  to  any  number 
in  our  instruction  books  of  later  date  for  children; 
little  by  little  some  readiness  will  be  gained  in  read- 
ing if  every  next  trial  brings  something  new.  Easy 
sonatinas,  and  everything  that  presents  little  diffi- 
culty in  rhythm,  may  thus  be  read  until  some  satis- 
factory result  is  obtained;  it  is,  however,  essential 
that  the  reading  matter  should  always  be  of  a  simple 
kind,  in  gradation  very  much  below  the  general 
ability  of  the  player,  and  that  no  attempt  be  made 
to  soon  increase  the  harmonic  or  rhythmical  diffi- 
culties of  the  matter. 

Mention  has  been  made  repeatedly  that  in  the 
early  part  of  the  student's  training,  material  of 
sound  musical  quality  should  be  substituted  alto- 
gether for  exercises,  since  the  deteriorating  tend- 
ency of  the  latter  in  all  that  constitutes  musical 
characteristics  can  scarcely  be  denied  in  the  abstract. 
No  mechanical  exercises,  save  what  may  be  termed 
the  elements  of  execution,  should  be  employed; 
these,  however,  should  be  studied  and  matured,  as  a 
means  to  musical  reproduction,  until  a  high  grade 
of  perfection  is  attained.  The  multumin parvo  should 
be  the  ruling  principle,  and  a  thoroughly  correct 
application  of  all  that  pertains  to  piano  technic  must 
be  considered  as  essential.  Physical  development 
and  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  individual  will 


22  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

largely  determine  the  successful  issue;  yet  more 
depends  on  thorough,  systematic  work.  Every  step 
prepares  the  way  for  the  next,  but  firm  foothold 
must  be  gained  before  the  new  step  is  attempted. 
After  the  elements  of  piano  technic  have  been  firmly 
established,  the  student  will  be  able  to  successfully 
develop  greater  variety  in  execution,  provided  that 
in  each  new  acquisition  he  adheres  to  the  principle 
of  the  utmost  exactness. 

The  intellectual  and  moral  development  of  the 
individual  depends  largely  upon  the  associations 
which  have  influenced  the  early  growth.  The  child 
which  has  had  free  access  to  all  the  innocent  pleas- 
ures that  brighten  its  tender  existence  while  its 
education  carefully  guards  it  from  all  harmful  and 
undesirable  influences,  will  in  the  ordinary  course 
not  only  develop  a  more  evenly  balanced  mind  and 
sense  of  duty,  and  find  in  the  trials  of  life  a  strong 
support,  but  will  cherish,  in  advancing  age,  the  treas- 
ured recollections  of  a  happy  infancy.  Individual 
development  is  generally  much  easier  influenced  by 
the  mitigating  recreations  than  by  the  unbending 
rule  of  study,  and  only  by  the  judicious,  unequivocal 
admixture  of  pleasure  and  duty  that  latent  power  in 
life — character — can  be  evolved. 

Parents  have  little  difficulty  in  grading  the  read- 
ing matter  of  studious  children.  Nursery  rhymes, 
fables,  fairy  stories,  tales  of  fiction,  which,  while  they 
amuse,  do  not  exclude  information,  follow  each 
other  in  well  regulated  rapid  succession,  excluding 
fabrications  which  have  a  tendency  to  mislead  and 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  23 

deceive  in  wild  freaks  of  unnatural  imagination.  Im- 
perceptibly growing  in  strength  the  intellect  will  ac- 
quire the  intuitive  judgment,  known  as  common  sense. 

The  piano  teacher  must  combine  study  and  recre- 
ation at  every  stage  of  the  pupil's  progress.  Pro- 
vided that  the  selections  are  of  a  simple,  unaffected 
kind  in  their  make-up  and  tendency,  less  given  to 
outward  show  than  musical  enjoyment,  the  recrea- 
tions will  best  improve  the  educational  purpose. 
The  touching  strains  of  pathetic  folk  songs,  the 
little  pieces  full  of  sweet  tenderness  or  childish 
merriment,  all  the  light  matter  whose  unadorned 
beauty  calls  for  some  interesting  association  of 
ideas  and  sentiments,  will  lead  the  pupil  to  the 
better  appreciation  of  the  frank  and  sturdy  sincerity 
of  the  great  composers. 

In  the  whole  range  of  piano  literature  few  com- 
posers are  found  who  have  not  written  some  easier 
music,  which  at  one  time  or  another  can  fill  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  pupil's  course  of  study;  their 
character  is  so  varied  that  something  can  always  be 
found  to  please  the  average  pupil.  It  is  evident, 
since  the  style  and  manner  of  each  composer  can 
only  be  gathered  from  his  own  works,  that  a  teacher 
who  introduces  his  pupils  early  to  the  better  class  of 
composers,  will  not  only  furnish  the  student  with 
excellent  material  and  give  him  a  higher  enjoyment, 
but  will  largely  improve  his  prospects  for  success  in 
later  efforts. 

Reinecke,  Hiller,  Gurlitt,  Krause,  Volkmann, 
Jensen,  Scharwenka  and  a  host  of  others,  have 


24  THE  PIANIST'S  AR?. 

written  many  easy  and  enjoyable  pieces  for  children, 
which,  with  selections  from  the  easier  works  of 
Mozart,  Haydn,  Haendel,  Mendelssohn  and  the 
Album  for  the  Young  of  Schumann's,  offer  a  wealth 
and  variety  which  is  truly  excellent.  According  to 
the  ability  and  mettle  of  the  pupil  compositions  of 
a  light  genre  may  be  employed  alongside  of  this 
better  material,  provided  the  empty,  meaningless 
phrase  and  the  altogether  patternlike  technic  in 
composition  is  sufficiently  shunned. 

Necessarily,  what  will  insure  the  greatest  versa- 
tility in  execution,  on  the  soundest  musical  princi- 
ples, will  be  the  best  means  to  the  end;  and  the 
greatest  exponent  of  music  pure  and  simple,  J.  S. 
Bach  furnishes  the  student  with  the  greatest  variety 
in  technical  figures.  The  student  will  find  in  him 
every  assistance  in  his  efforts  for  greater  variety  and 
superior  neatness  in  execution,  while  the  sound 
musical  character  of  his  works  will  greatly  mature 
the  healthy  musical  instincts.  If  it  is  conceded  that 
musical  qualification  should  be  combined  with 
technical  efficiency,  the  student,  whose  selections  of 
a  more  technical  tendency  are  largely  interspersed 
with  Bach,  from  the  little  preludes  to  his  "Well 
Tempered  Clavecin,"  will  find  an  endless  variety  of 
musical  and  technical  material,  which  with  proper 
application  will  not  only  greatly  enlarge  his  execu- 
tive ability,  but  will  give  him  intellectually  the  ordi- 
nary complements,  the  first  principles,  which  estab- 
lish sound  musical  convictions,  that  will  be  a  safe- 
guard for  his  musical  conscience. 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  25 

Piano  music  and  piano  technic  have  been  devel- 
oped and  broadened  since  Bach's  time  to  an  aston- 
ishing degree,  and  though  Bach  may  justly  claim  the 
foremost  consideration  in  the  student's  curriculum, 
there  would  be  no  gain  in  a  totally  one-sided  devo- 
tion to  his  musical  genius.  It  is  no  easy  task  for  the 
student  to  gain  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  mas- 
terworks  of  piano  literature.  Mozart,  Haydn,  Men- 
delssohn and  Haendel  will  prepare  the  way  for  Schu- 
bert, Weber  and  Beethoven,  while  Chopin  and  Schu- 
mann require  a  more  mature  development.  The 
works  of  the  masters,  each  more  or  less  perfect  in  its 
own  peculiar  manner,  are  varied  in  the  composer's 
ideal  vision  of  beauty,  their  creative  power,  their 
technic  of  composition  and  individual  use  of  the  in- 
strument so  that  an  appreciation  of  their  various 
characteristic  qualities  can  only  be  attained  by  care- 
ful and  persevering  work. 

As  life's  intercourse  develops  character  and  brings 
out  the  qualities  in  man  which  distinguish  one  being 
from  another,  so  musical  characteristics  can  only  be 
developed  in  constant  interchange  with  the  ideal 
characters  in  the  great  works  of  our  art.  The  greater 
the  variety  of  composers  and  compositions  of 
sterling  value  that  come  within  the  range  of  the 
student's  efforts,  the  more  thoroughly  each  is  studied 
and  appreciated  in  its  musical  character,  the  more 
chance  will  the  pianist  have  to  acquire  that  subtle 
intelligence,  that  broadness  of  character,  and  inten- 
sity  of  feeling  in  musical  reproduction,  which  is  the 
chief  charm  of  piano  playing. 


FINGERING. 


FINGERING  designates  the  manner  or  mode  of 
using  the  fingers  in  piano  playing,  and  a  rational 
method  of  fingering  applied  to  the  mechanical  man- 
agement of  the  keyboard  for  practical  purposes  is 
what  constitutes  the  executive  ability  of  the  pianist. 
The  more  the  fingers  are  freed  from  natural  restraint 
the  more  will  they  be  qualified  for  action,  and  execu- 
tion in  its  highest  attainable  state  will  depend  for 
equality  and  rapidity  upon  the  independence  of  the  fin- 
gers but  for  accuracy  and  faultlcssncss  upon  a  thor- 
oughly systematized  fingering.  So  closely  and 
inseparably  connected — save  for  the  indispensable 
mechanical  ability — are  systematic  fingering  and 
executive  skill  that  in  effect  the  one  is  a  comple- 
ment to  the  other;  even  the  mechanical  independ- 
ence of  the  fingers  can  not  be  developed  without 
some  rudimentary  system  in  fingering. 

The  execution  can  be  even  without  being  swift, 
and  correct  without  reaching  that  perfected  state 
which  almost  excludes  defect — but  it  is  self-evident 
that  an  even  execution  must  rely  to  a  great  ex- 
tent on  a  correct  system  of  fingering;  and  that  a  per- 
fect  execution  (which  includes  swiftness)  is  only  the 

20 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  27 

highest  degree  of  equality  and  accuracy  which  can 
be  obtained. 

A  systematic  fingering  includes  all  grammatical 
rules  which  govern  digital  skill  according  to  sound 
principles  and  established  usage;  etymological  rules 
will  comprise  the  fingering  of  all  elementary  techni- 
cal forms  and  their  changes  and  inflections,  syntac- 
tic will  be  the  application  of  the  elementary  rules  to 
the  musical  sentences  themselves,  and  in  their  nec- 
essary relations  to  each  other  in  compositions. 

The  elementary  rules  of  fingering  have  been 
established  so  thoroughly  in  course  of  time  by  the 
constant  attention  of  the  masters,  and  the  later 
phases  of  pianistic  art  have  so  perfected  and  ar- 
ranged the  material,  that  a  reliable  basis  for  a  theory 
of  fingering  seems  to  have  been  gained.  The  appli- 
cation of  these  rules,  however,  to  connected  musical 
sentences  in  composition  is  still,  and  probably  al- 
ways will  be,  more  or  less  arbitrary,  since  the  practi- 
cal analysis  is  always  to  a  great  extent  influenced  by 
individual  adaptability,  which  allows  and  often  ne- 
cessitates modifications  to  all  rules.  The  perfect 
practical  mastery  of  fingering  in  the  artist  must  be, 
so  to  say,  individualized  to  obtain  in  conjunction 
with  an  adequate  independence  of  the  fingers  a 
faultless  execution. 

Our  knowledge  of  any  attempt  to  give  rules  for 
fingering  reaches  back  to  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
sufficient  evidence  can  be  found  in  all  the  various 
epochs  of  piano  music  and  piano  playing  to  prove 
that  the  masters  at  all  times  considered  a  well- 


28  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

matured  method  in  fingering  one  of  the  most  essen- 
tial requirements  in  the  pianist's  artistic  make-up. 

The  views  expressed  in  the  earliest  days  are  of 
such  primitive  order  and  in  the  light  of  our  ad- 
vanced attainments  so  insufficient  and  erroneous, 
that  they  have  none  but  an  historical  interest  nowa- 
days. The  hands  and  elbows  of  the  player  were  at 
first  below  the  keyboard  and  permissible  only  was 
the  use  of  the  three  middle  fingers;  when,  somewhat 
later,  the  hands  were  raised  to  be  in  a  line  with  the 
fingers,  these  were  held  stiff  and  straight  so  as 
to  still  exclude  the  use  of  the  thumb  and  fifth 
finger.  The  keyboard  in  those  days  had  only  the 
lower  keys  and  two  B  flats,  the  instrument  itself 
was  altogether  inferior  and  offered  small  chance 
for  musical  combinations,  so  that  the  above  mode  of 
fingering  was  probably  tantamount  to  all  the  re- 
quirements of  execution. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  chromatic  half- 
tones, the  division  of  each  octave  into  seven  lower 
and  five  upper  keys,  and  the  tempered  tuning  of  the 
instrument,  a  decided  change  in  composition  must 
have  caused  a  marked  revolution  in  fingering  and 
the  treatment  of  the  instrument.  The  first  treatise 
on  "musical  temperature"  by  Andreas  Werkmeister 
(1691)  is  very  likely  the  result  of  many  prior  experi- 
ments; these  radical  changes  themselves,  however, 
can  hardly  be  many  years  older. 

Francois  Couperin — highly  esteemed  for  his 
originality  and  musical  qualities  in  composition,  and 
for  his  elegant  and  expressive  performances  on  the 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  29 

clavecin — who  made  use  of  the  even  temperament, 
gives  in  his  "/'  art de  toucher  du clavecin'  (1717)  ex- 
amples of  fingering,  which,  though  extremely  dar- 
ing, seem  altogether  capricious  and  void  of  method, 
a  proof  that  the  ideas  on  fingering  for  the  new  key- 
board were  at  that  time,  in  France  at  least,  still 
vague  and  unsettled.  Couperin's  novel  use  of  the 
thumb  and  fifth  finger,  though  apparently  nowhere 
subject  to  any  rule,  forms  the  bridge  to  the  rational 
system  which  was  developed  about  that  time. 
Scarlatti's  mode  of  fingering  must  have  been  well 
systematized  to  judge  the  great  performer  by  his 
compositions,  though  there  seems  to  be  no  trace  left 
of  any  method. 

Joh.  Seb.  Bach's  system,  which  forms  the  basis  for 
our  modern  fingering,  was,  no  doubt,  due  to  his  very 
superior  ability  as  a  player  and  may  have  been 
developed  in  his  earlier  years — it  is,  however,  diffi- 
cult to  say  whether  he  originated  this  system  inde- 
pendently, since  Buxtehude  (1635-1707),  celebrated 
as  organist  before  Bach's  time,  required  as  thorough 
a  system  of  fingering  for  a  good  rendition  of  his 
complicated  works,  as  Bach — was  probably  well 
matured  when  he  wrote  the  first  part  of  his  Well- 
Tempered  Clavecin  (about  1720),  and  the  ideas  were 
transmitted  to  posterity  mainly  through  his  son, 
Ph.  Em.  Bach. 

The  salient  feature  of  this  new  system  was  the 
employment  of  all  the  fingers  and  their  curved  po- 
sition— so  as  to  equalize  the  reach  of  the  longer  and 
shorter  members;  the  use  of  the  thumb  and  fifth 


30  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

finger  must  have  been  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the 
other  fingers,  though  their  serviceableness  for  the 
upper  keys  was  restricted  by  Bach  to  cases  of 
necessity.  Only  with  such  a  basis  for  fingering  it  is 
possible  to  reproduce  the  difficult  and  complicated 
works  which  Bach  is  said  to  have  played  with  ease 
and  where  polyphone  playing  in  either  hand  fre- 
quently necessitates  the  use  of  the  thumb  and  fifth 
finger  on  the  black  keys. 

This  theory  has  held  good  with  all  the  great 
players  and  teachers  after  Bach  who  held  connection 
with  him  in  an  almost  unbroken  line  through  his 
sons.  Dussek,  Clementi,  Mozart,  Hummel,  Cramer, 
Czerny,  Moscheles  and  many  others  have  on  this 
same  basis  specified  rules  for  fingering  according  to 
their  own  individual  requirements.  Special  rules 
were  made  for  the  various  practical  ends  and  ex- 
emplified in  many  a  great  piano  method,  but  the 
fundamental  principle  of  Bach's  system  remained 
unchanged.  As,  however,  the  predominant  homo- 
phone style  of  piano  music  after  Bach  offered  hardly 
any  needful  occasion  to  use  the  shorter  fingers  on 
the  black  keys,  it  became  in  course  of  time  a  strict 
rule  not  to  use  the  thumb  or  fifth  finger  on  the  upper 
keys. 

As  long  as  the  figures  in  piano  passages  were  of  a 
narrower  pattern,  seldom  reaching  an  octave  and  in 
very  extraordinary  cases  only  going  beyond  that 
interval,  this  positive  interdiction  of  the  short  fingers 
on  the  black  keys  could  not  become  a  serious  obsta- 
cle in  execution.  When,  however,  in  the  last,  most 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  3! 

brilliant  and  versatile  epoch  of  pianistic  art  the  pas- 
sages were  made  up  more  frequently  of  the  very 
widest  patterns;  when  everything  that  nature  and 
training  could  bring  within  reach  of  the  artist  was 
not  only  considered  practicable  but  made  use  of  on 
all  occasions ;  when  all  the  parts  of  the  arm,  wrist  and 
hand  joined  in  the  most  complete  physical  develop- 
ment, it  became  a  matter  of  necessity  to  often 
employ  the  shorter  fingers  on  the  upper  keys.  The 
modern  school  recognizes  the  necessity  of  putting 
the  shorter  fingers  as  much  as  possible  on  an  even 
basis  with  the  longer  fingers;  reckoning  with  perfect 
freedom  of  the  hand  in  complete  repose,  and  with 
thoroughly  independent  fingers,  it  relieves  the  latter 
from  all  restrictions,  so  that  henceforth  the  artistic 
purpose  in  musical  performance  and  the  convenience 
of  the  player  are  the  only  considerations  which 
govern  the  choice  of  fingers  for  any  end  whatever. 

It  is  an  erroneous  idea  to  suppose  that  the  me- 
thodical and  convenient  way  of  playing,  what  might 
be  termed  the  elements  of  execution — which  has 
been  rationally  developed  and  is  upheld  by  the 
approval  of  all,  even  the  latest  masters — has  been  or 
ever  will  be  radically  changed  by  any  new  theory. 
As  long  as  the  mechanism  of  the  instrument  remains 
the  same  the  use  of  the  thumb  or  fifth  finger  on  black 
keys  in  the  scales  or  other  elementary  combinations 
is  neither  obligatory  nor  desirable  without  urgent 
cause,  though  perfectly  permissible  under  circum- 
stances. The  established  way  of  playing  has  not 


32  THE    PIANIST  S    ART. 

been  changed,  although  in  many  instances  it  has  been 
considerably  improved  in  a  rational  manner. 

The  fundamental  principles  for  a  systematic  fin- 
gering, whether  applied  to  elementary  formations  or 
adjusted  to  practical  purposes  in  playing  by  student 
or  artist,  may  be  summed  up  as  follows:  That  the 
natural  succession  of  the  fingers  is  the  most  desir- 
able, that  the  simplest  fingering  is  the  best  and  most 
methodical,  and  that  according  to  the  natural  posi- 
tion of  the  fingers  within  compass  of  a  fifth,  octave 
or  tenth,  the  fingering  must  be  constructed  on  these 
principles.  Based  on  these  ideas,  the  rules  for  a 
rational  system  of  fingering  have  been  developed  for 
the  elements  of  execution,  and  while  such  rules  as 
would  be  fitting  for  the  various  possibilities  in  musi- 
cal practice  can  not  possibly  be  framed,  since  the 
various  combinations  in  composition  can  as  little  be 
brought  into  connection  with  general  precepts  in 
fingering,  as  the  individual  qualifications  of  the 
student  or  artist  can  be  disregarded,  a  general  synop- 
sis of  some  particular  features  in  the  application  of 
fingering  to  practical  purposes  can  be  given. 

Five  fingers,  slightly  curved  and  resting  on  five 
lower  keys  in  an  unbroken  row,  will  represent  the 
most  natural  position;  this  position  may  either  be 
contracted  by  omission  of  one  or  more  fingers,  or 
expanded.  All  groups  of  notes  ranging  from  the 
interval  of  the  second  to  that  of  the  sixth  will  be 
within  easy  reach  in  this  position;  an  extension  of 
the  hand  to  the  octave  will  include  the  seventh  and 
easily  cover  the  ninth,  and  the  further  extension  to 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  33 

the  tenth  will  include  the  interval  of  the  eleventh 
for  all  such  as  are  sufficiently  favored  by  nature  to 
be  able  to  reach  it  with  a  quiet  hand. 

Any  one  of  these  positions  of  the  fifth,  octave  or 
tenth  may  be  transposed  and  interchanged  by  cross- 
ing the  fingers  over  the  thumb  or  by  gliding  the  lat- 
ter under  the  fingers;  or  it  may  be  slightly  shifted 
by  slipping  the  fifth  finger  below  the  longer  fingers 
or  the  latter  over  the  little  finger. 

The  elements  of  execution — trills,  diatonic  and 
chromatic  scales  in  all  their  various  combinations, 
the  broken  chords  and  arpeggios  in  all  their  posi- 
tions, variations  and  transpositions,  the  repeating 
notes,  the  diatonic  and  chromatic  scales  in  thirds, 
sixths  and  octaves,  the  broken  chords  and  arpeg- 
gios in  double  notes — have  a  stereotyped  fingering 
which  can  be  traced  in  any  of  the  modern  hand- 
books. (Plaidy's  Technical  Studies.)  A  thorough 
knowledge  of  harmony  will  further  elucidate  the 
fingering  of  these  typical  tone  combinations  and  will 
enable  the  student  to  locate  the  different  patterns 
and  figures  derived  from  scales  and  chords  correctly 
as  to  their  position  and  so  find  their  normal  finger- 
ing. A  combination  of  different  positions  or  trans- 
position will  change  nothing  in  the  system  of  finger- 
ing, as  the  change,  once  effected,  restores  the  same 
quiet  position  of  the  hand.  Carl  Tausig's  daily 
studies  offer  a  much  larger  variety  of  technical  fig- 
ures which,  inasmuch  as  they  are  developed  system- 
atically from  trills,  scales  and  chords,  and  cleverly 
transposed  through  the  whole  harmonious  system, 

3 


34  THE    PIANISTS    ART. 

are  likely  to  broaden  and  mature  in  a  careful  student 
the  ideas  for  a  good  method  in  fingering. 

The  correct  fingering  of  these  elementary  com- 
binations, if  properly  and  thoroughly  mastered  by 
the  student,  will  give  his  fingers  in  course  of  time 
a  sort  of  instinctive  tendency  to  perform  certain 
movements,  and  some  deliberation  will  enable  him 
to  apply  his  proficiency  to  advantage  in  composition. 
The  later  standard  editions,  as  Peters,  Litolff,  etc., 
are,  in  their  carefully  revised  fingering,  an  invaluable 
aid  to  student  and  teacher,  if  the  same  imperative 
necessity  compels  the  use  of  the  right  fingers,  that 
calls  for  the  right  notes. 

Though  a  natural  succession  of  the  fingers  is  usu- 
ally preferable,  trills  often  gain  in  power  and  brill- 
iancy by  employing  fingers  out  of  their  natural 
order,  1.3  or  3.5  fingers  instead  of  1.2 — 2.3 — 3.4 — 4.5; 
a  change,  however,  of  1,3,2,4,  for  trills  require  a 
very  even  touch  and  great  facility  to  be  effective. 
The  use  of  one  and  the  same  fingering  for  all  the 
scales — beginning  with  the  thumb  and  ending  with 
the  fifth  finger — would  simplify  the  fingering  for  the 
scales  in  flats,  would  work,  perhaps,  to  perfection 
theoretically,  but  could  not  fail  to  be  awkward  and 
clumsy  if  carried  out  persistently  even  by  an  excel- 
lent player.  Musical  construction  makes  it  desirable 
sometimes  to  use  the  thumb  or  fifth  finger  on  the 
upper  keys,  even  in  scale  passages,  mostly,  however, 
toward  the  end  of  such  passages  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  a  more  desirable  position  of  the  hand  for  the 
next  phrase. 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  35 

For  short  chromatic  passages  the  use  of  the  fourth 
ringer  on  upper  keys  and  the  fifth  on  the  lower  keys 
insures  a  very  effective  mezzo  voce;  for  rapid  play- 
ing of  the  chromatic  scale,  a  fingering  (a)  has  great 
advantages  and  is  practicable,  as  the  change  from 
fifth  to  thumb  is  by  no  means  difficult  to  overcome. 
A  certain  amount  of  proficiency  in  changing  after 
the  fifth  finger  should  be  developed,  as  it  may  fre- 
quently be  found  useful;  it  is  one  of  the  prominent 
features  in  modern  fingering.  Scale  passages,  or 
their  derivations,  will  gain  in  swiftness  the  fewer  the 
changes  of  position;  there  is  no  fingering  that  wdl 
give  the  scale  in  C  the  supreme  dash  that  two 
changes  of  five  fingers  each  (b)  for  two  octaves  will 
impart  to  it. 

Passages  or  figures  developed  from  or  made  up 
of  scales  can  easily  be  fingered  systematically;  pas- 
sages composed  of  a  succession  of  similar  figures 
should  be  fingered  uniformly;  if  they  are  made  up 
in  close  position  after  the  manner  of  the  classic 
school,  it  is  desirable  to  avoid  the  use  of  the  thumb 
on  upper  keys  as  much  as  convenient;  in  the  ex- 
tended figures  of  the  modern  writers  a  change  to  a 
higher  or  lower  octave  will  often  make  the  use  of 
the  two  short  fingers  on  the  black  keys  necessary. 


36  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

Even  in  common  arpeggios,  according  to  their  posi- 
tion and  extent,  a  change  to  the  thumb  after  the 
fifth  finger  may  be  advisable  in  reference  to  the 
ensuing  position  of  the  hand,  which  will  always 
decide  the  choice  of  fingers. 

Repeating  notes  may  be  played  with  various 
orders  of  fingers  (i,  2,  3,  4  or  4,  3,  2,  I  or  i,  4,  3,  2, 
etc.),  but  a  regular  change  in  the  succession  should 
be  adhered  to  and  the  grouping  should  be  such  that 
the  accents  are  rendered  with  the  stronger  fingers. 
In  all  the  later  standard  editions  of  classic  and  mod- 
ern piano  works  a  change  of  fingers  for  a  renewed 
attack  of  the  same  key,  where  and  whenever  it 
occurs,  is  carried  out  with  characteristic  conse- 
quence, a  usage  which  highly  recommends  itself,  as 
it  insures  an  almost  unfailing  repetition  in  the 
mechanism  of  the  instrument.  This  practice,  how- 
ever, appears  less  urgent  in  polyphone  playing  in  the 
same  hand,  more  especially  when  one  part  is  of 
strong,  melodious  import,  while  the  other  is  second- 
ary; the  methodical  change  in  such  cases  seems  to 
increase  frequently  the  difficulty  in  the  more  neces- 
sary qualifications  of  the  touch,  and  is  even  more 
often  liable  to  interfere  with  rhythmical  precision. 

For  diatonic  scales  in  thirds,  a  fingering  analo- 
gous to  that  of  the  simple  scale,  with  one  change  of 
position(<r),  is  preferable,  and  the  modern  way  of  fing- 

I     I      I     t   '•  i    .•  I 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  37 

ering  the  chromatic  scale  in  thirds  (d]  is  superior  for 
smoothness  and  agility.  The  more  extended  in 
compass  the  double  passages  become,  the  more 
liable  is  the  thumb  to  get  the  entire  charge  of  one 
part,  while  the  3,  4,  5  fingers  take  the  other.  The 
use  of  the  longer  fingers  for  the  upper  keys,  and  the 
fifth  finger  for  the  lower,  more  particularly  in  octave 
playing,  seems  the  most  natural.  For  arpeggios  in 
double  notes  a  regularly  recurring  fingering  for 
every  octave  is  advisable. 

In  melodious  passages  with  accompaniment  in 
the  same  hand,  recourse  may  often  be  had  to  a  quiet 
change  of  fingers,  by  continued  pressure,  on  the 
notes  of  the  melody,  so  as  to  render  them  well  con- 
nected. The  notes  in  the  accompaniment  should  be 
played  leggiero  —  that  is  non-legato  —  and  the  fingers 
should  leave  them  before  the  next  note  of  the 
melody  is  taken.  This  mode  of  cantabile  playing 
with  accompaniment  in  the  same  hand,  though  by 
no  means  the  only  nor  the  most  effective  one,  is  well 
calculated  to  purify  the  melodious  feeling  in  the 
student. 

In  polyphone  playing  in  the  same  hand,  the  parts 
will  either  move  in  parallel  motion,  in  which  case 
the  fingering  may  be  developed  after  that  of  the 
scales  in  thirds  or  sixths;  or  in  contrary  motion, 
when  the  thumb  will  generally  take  care  of  one 


I     I     5     I     \     \     \     \     I     I 


1    ft  a       t       a       i       a       1       i       a       l       a 


38  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

part,  while  the  four  fingers  take  the  other;  or  in 
oblique  motion;  in  this  case  the  moving  part  will  be 
fingered  according  to  the  natural  order  of  the  fin- 
gers. If  a  change  of  position  in  the  moving  part  is 
required  —  generally  when  the  fifth  finger  holds  the 
other  part — this  must  be  effected  with  due  regard  to 
the  following  phrase.  The  use  of  the  thumb  and  fifth 
finger  on  the  upper  keys  in  polyhone  playing  is 
often  indispensable  and,  like  the  change  of  fingers 
on  the  same  key  without  striking,  frequently  a  mat- 
ter of  necessity. 

When  the  accompaniment  is  made  up  of  wide- 
spread harmonies  in  the  left  hand  and  the  chords  are 
struck  after  a  fundamental  bass  note,  it  is  desirable 
to  retain  the  extended  position  of  the  hand  as  much 
as  possible,  and  the  chords  are  struck  without  the 
use  of  the  fifth  finger  whenever  practicable. 

The  execution  of  some  passages  can  be  at  times 
facilitated  and  certainly  made  much  more  brilliant 
and  dazzling,  by  dividing  them  between  both  hands. 
The  particular  fingering  for  each  group  can  be  easily 
developed — some  routine  in  this  special  manner  can 
be  acquired  in  Carl  Reinecke's  studies,  op.  121. 

To  give  a  succession  of  notes  in  a  melodious  pas- 
sage greater  delicacy,  Chopin  often  uses  one  of  the 
weaker  fingers,  and  a  strong  finger  for  a  martellato; 
of  much  greater  effect,  producing  with  full  arm 
stroke  a  tone  of  great  penetrating  quality,  is  the 
alternate  use  of  a  strong  finger  in  either  hand  in 
melodious  passages  or  trills. 

Liberal    views    and    rules    which    more   readily 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART.  39 

adapt  themselves  to  the  greater  variety  of  technical 
matter  in  composition,  distinguish  our  modern  fin- 
gering from  the  old  system.  Modern  training  aspires 
pre-eminently  to  a  certain  natural  freedom  in  execu- 
tion, which  equally  affects  the  movements  of  the 
fingers,  hand,  wrist  and  arm,  a  freedom  which  was 
not  needed  in  the  homophone  style  of  composition 
after  Bach,  with  its  more  limited  practical  require- 
ments; but  if  greater  diversity  in  the  executive 
qualification  of  the  pianist  is  necessary  to  accom- 
plish the  higher,  more  difficult  and  varied  technical 
problems,  greater  liberty  and  variety  in  fingering  will 
naturally  follow.  Yet  it  does  not  always  appear  that 
a  greater  variety  will  insure  a  better  result.  A 
continual  change  in  the  natural  order  of  the  fingers 
and  the  consequent  shifting  in  the  position  of 
the  hand  may  be  under  circumstances  very  desir- 
able, may  even  become  necessary,  but  should 
never  become  a  ruling  principle  in  fingering. 
Mechanical  ability  in  playing — always  admirable 
when  a  means  to  the  end  in  musical  reproduction — 
has  just  as  much  right  to  become  the  sole  and  final 
aim  of  the  artist. 

In  all  cases  where  a  moderate  or  slow  motion  is 
required  in  the  character  of  the  phrase,  where  a  quiet 
and  reposeful  position  of  the  hand  will  more  prop- 
erly represent  the  expressive  quality  of  the  composi- 
tion, a  continued  change  in  the  regular  succession 
of  the  fingers  is  decidedly  undesirable  and  unnec- 
essary. Whenever  the  regular  stereotyped  manner  of 
fingering  is  apt  to  tire  the  muscles,  in  the  unvarying 


4O  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

employment  of  the  same  fingers  in  natural  order; 
wherever  greater  power  of  tone  is  required — obtain- 
able by  combined  movement  of  fingers  and  hand— 
and  wherever  a  vacillating  character  demands  an 
agitated,  restless  rendition,  the  regular  routine  of 
the  system  may  be  altered  to  obtain  the  desired 
effect. 


EXPRESSION. 


EXPRESSION  is  the  evidence  of  emotion,  a  vivid 
representation  of  a  certain  meaning  or  feeling, 
and  implies  in  music  a  style  or  manner  which  gives  life 
and  suggestive  force  to  ideas  and  sentiments.  Emo- 
tion is  a  state  of  intense  excitement  of  feeling;  emo- 
tion in  music,  or  an  emotional  expression  in  music, 
would  impart  a  degree  of  excitement  which  is  not 
compatible  with  art.  Is,  however,  music  the  lan- 
guage of  emotion,  it  must  be  an  emotion  which  has 
been  intellectually  conceived,  and  prepared  by  the 
mind  for  utterance  or  reproduction;  that  the  feeling 
must  be  latent  in  the  artist  to  be  by  him  well  under- 
stood and  defined,  seems  certain;  yet  it  is  the  ar- 
tistic intelligence  which  shapes  the  means  for  the  re- 
production of  the  emotional  characteristics,  and  the 
imagination  reconstructs  and  combines  the  material 
furnished  by  the  artist's  apprehension. 

Musical  expression  is,  therefore,  not  emotional, 
but  represents  in  the  abstract  certain  qualities  of 
emotion  in  repose,  and  each  emotion  appears  as  repre- 
sented by  certain  characteristics,  which  make  it  dis- 
tinctly different  from  some  universal  sentiment.  Its 
chief  promoter  seems  to  be  a  distinct  order  of  intel- 

41 


42  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

lectual  faculty,  which  conceives  a  more  or  less  defi- 
nite idea  of  certain  emotions,  develops  the  means  by 
which  this  idea  is  made  manifest,  and  commands 
them  in  musical  reproduction.  As  an  intellectual 
process,  musical  expression  requires  instinctive  dis- 
crimination in  regard  to  the  means  employed.  This 
discrimination  is  a  part  of  intellectual  training,  and 
can  be  developed  to  a  certain  degree. 

In  a  general  way,  musical  expression  will  represent 
a  correct  musical  sentiment,  and  a  proper  apprecia- 
tion of  the  outline  of  character  designated  by  the 
composer  in  the  meter,  indications  of  movement  and 
shading.  If  this  correct  musical  sentiment,  as  first 
conceived  by  the  composer,  is  intensified  by  higher 
intellectual  power  and  temperament  of  the  artist,  it 
becomes  a  manifestation  of  artistic  individuality, 
which  is  the  highest  attainment  in  reproductive  mu- 
sical art. 

Melody,  harmony  and  rhythm,  the  essential  and 
integral  parts  of  composition,  form  the  basis  of  ex- 
pression in  music.  Melody  and  harmony  represent 
the  musical  matter  to  which  rhythm  gives  the  system- 
atic order  and  logical  importance.  As  a  principle 
of  order,  rhythm  is  quantitative,  it  gives  each  note  its 
special  value  and  arranges  the  notes  into  groups,  so 
as  to  fill  the  meter  of  the  composition;  it  is  qualita- 
tive inasmuch  as  it  determines  the  logical  importance 
of  notes  and  groups.  Meter  is  a  systematic  arrange- 
ment in  musical  art,  which  regulates  the  succession 
of  parts  to  a  satisfactory  interchange,  according  to 
strict  laws.  Meter,  therefore,  arranges  the  musical 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  43 

matter,  and  is  the  embodiment  of  rhythmical  law, 
while  rhythm  represents  the  material  in  everchang- 
ing  motion.  Rhythm  and  meter  spring  from  the 
same  source,  one  always  changing  in  endless  variety, 
the  other  constant  in  the  special  form  it  assumes. 

Meter  represents  time  (German,  tact — measure), 
and  it  includes  always  more  than  one  unit,  each  of 
which  is  important  as  part  of  the  meter,  though  the 
first  gives  the  normal  conditions  of  the  others;  it  is, 
as  such,  more  prominent,  and  receives  an  accent. 
Parts  of  the  meter,  though  as  units  and  time  meas- 
ures unchangeable,  can  be  represented  in  all  rhyth- 
mical figures.  Meter  is  distinguished  as  simple  and 
compound;  the  latter,  as  the  name  implies,  is  a  com- 
bination of  simple  meters.  Meters  of  two  or  three 
units  will  always  be  considered  as  simple  (2-4,  3-4); 
four,  six,  eight,  nine,  etc.,  units  will  constitute  com- 
pound meters.  Units,  as  time-measures,  can  repre- 
sent different  note  values,  as  half,  quarter,  eighth- 
notes,  etc. 

As  a  means  of  bringing  the  first  and  important 
part  of  the  meter  into  prominence,  metrical  accents 
are  part  of  the  meter,  and  metrical  accents  will  not 
change  as  long  as  the  meter  is  unvarying  in  the  form 
it  has  taken;  the  metrical  accent  can  not  be  trans- 
ferred to  an  unaccented  part  of  the  meter.  In  com- 
pound meter  each  of  the  component  parts  claims  an 
accent,  and,  as  in  simple  meter,  the  first  unit  gives 
the  normal  conditions  for  the  others,  so  in  compound 
meter,  the  first  component  holds  the  same  relation 
to  the  others;  it  naturally  follows  that  metrical  ac- 


44  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

cents  in  compound  meter  should  be  related  in  the 
same  manner;  the  first  accent  should  be  more  promi- 
nent than  those  of  the  other  components — should  be 
primary  in  importance  and  grade  of  tone,  the  others 
secondary. 

As  simple  meter  has  one  accented  part,  and  com- 
pound meter  an  accent  to  each  component,  it  follows 
that  simple  meter  will  represent  an  easier  flow  of 
matter  than  compound  meter,  and  the  larger  the 
compound  the  more  will  be  gained  in  breadth  and 
importance. 

A  change  of  meter  of  one  kind  to  another  will 
plainly  mark  a  change  in  the  fundamental  rhythmic 
principle,  and  a  decided  change  in  character. 

Melody,  harmony  and  a  vivid  reproduction  will 
always  insure  minute  modifications  of  the  strict  laws 
of  constancy  in  metrical  division,  and  human  feeling 
will,  to  some  extent,  vary  an  unchanging  monotony 
in  the  grade  of  tone. 

Rhythmical  division  depends  on  the  same  laws 
as  the  metrical.  In  the  subdivision  of  time  values, 
taking  a  whole  note  as  a  unit,  the  first  of  two  half 
notes  will  be  the  weightier,  the  first  and  third  out  of 
four  quarters,  and  so  on  in  each  following  sub- 
division; the  ideas  of  metrical  importance  and  meter 
accent  apply  to  the  rhythmical  division,  so  that  the 
first  of  a  pair  is  always  the  weightier  of  the  two.  For 
the  same  reason,  the  first  in  each  triplet  will  be 
accented,  and  with  each  new  subdivision  the  accents 
of  either  pair  or  triplet  will  become  less  significant 
and  less  marked,  so  that  finally  the  player  simply 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  45 

retains  the  firm  consciousness  of  the  rhythmical 
pulsation,  which  will  prevent  accents  on  wrong  parts, 
or  exaggerated  accents  in  their  right  place. 

Metrical  and  rhythmical  accents  require  different 
grades  of  tone  according  to  the  importance  of  the 
accented  parts,  yet  this  accentuation,  when  simply 
indicating  the  outline  of  structure,  should  be 
moderate  and  adapted  to  the  character  of  the  com- 
position; where  rhythmic  clearness  only  is  required 
a  slight  increase  of  tone  will  therefore  be  sufficient. 
In  all  forms,  where  rhythm  becomes  a  characteristic 
and  determining  factor,  as  in  valses,  polonaises, 
mazurkas  and  marches,  the  metrical  accent  must  be 
strengthened  to  some  extent,  but  never  so  as  to  be- 
come violent. 

As  in  poetry  metrical  form  establishes  the  verse 
by  joining  a  series  of  meters  according  to  certain 
rules,  and  fashions  verses  into  groups,  so  in  music 
metrical  formation  is  extended  to  sections  and 
periods.  As  a  meter  holds  two,  three,  or  more  units, 
a  section  will  contain  two,  three,  four,  or  more 
meters,  and  a  period  will  include  several  sections; 
and  as  in  meter  the  first  unit  is  the  rule  for  the 
others,  so  in  a  section  the  first  meter  holds  promi- 
nence before  the  others.  Greater  discrimination  in 
accents  will  be  the  natural  consequence  of  this  prog- 
ress in  metrical  construction,  and  as  in  rhythmical 
subdivision  the  rhythmic  pulsation  is  finally  reduced 
to  a  firm  consciousness  on  the  part  of  the  performer, 
so  in  metrical  formation  the  accents  of  single 
meters  will  assume  an  intuitive  quality  that  makes 


46  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

their  presence  felt,  and  brings  them  to  a  steady 
recognition  without  undue  prominence. 

Metrical  formation  and  metrical  accents  offer  a 
study  of  great  value  to  the  piano  student  as  forming 
the  basis  for  phrasing  and  expression.  Meters  are 
plainly  indicated,  metrical  groups  may  be  easily  dis- 
tinguished with  some  practice,  and  periods  are 
determined  by  the  reappearance  of  the  first  or  the 
introduction  of  a  new  subject  which  begins  the  next 
period.  A  composition  must  be  thoroughly  appre- 
ciated in  its  architectonic  construction  before  the 
intellect  can  clearly  grasp  the  ideas,  and  if  the 
student's  attention  is  called  to  the  matter  early  and 
oft^n,  at  first  in  a  more  casual  way  and  with  slight 
insistence,  the  subject  will  soon  become  clear  to 
him. 

Metrical  accents  are  positive  and  absolutely 
necessary,  and  do  not  depend  on  changing  circum- 
stances. Their  presence  must  be  felt  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  fact  that  at  times  the  positive 
accent  seems  removed  by  reason  of  the  musical  con- 
struction does  not  in  itself  alter  the  fundamental 
principle.  When  by  syncopation  an  accented  part 
of  the  meter  is  contracted  to  an  unaccented  part, 
this  contraction  apparently  throws  the  accent  on  the 
weaker  part  of  the  meter.  Syncopation,  however, 
as  a  divergency  in  musical  construction,  will  only 
appear  clearly  organic  when  a  non-syncopic  form 
brings  it  to  the  fore  by  direct  contrast,  and  in  this 
case  the  non-syncopic  part  bears  the  accent. 

Metrical  accents  and  the  pulsation  of  rhythmical 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 


47 


matter  do  not  always  coincide,  and  in  this  case  both 
accents  should  be  present  and  distinctly  felt,  though 
one  will  generally  predominate. 

In  the  Weber  Concertstueck  a  rhythmical  figure 
in  3-4  occurs  in  a  meter  of  6-8  time;  a  rhythmical 
accent  (a)  for  each  figure  will  change  the  meter 
from  6-8  time  to  3-4,  a  fault  which  often  can  plainly 
be  noticed  even  in  public  performances.  The 
rhythmical  figure  is  so  unmistakable  that  it  scarcely 
requires  accentuation,  and  the  metrical  accent  (&) 
should  be  of  sufficient  power  to  preserve  the  char- 
ter of  the  6-8  time,  while  the  impression  made  by  the 
running  figure  in  3-4  rhythm  will  lend  a  higher 
charm  to  the  otherwise  mechanical  passage. 

In  the  Schubert  Impromptu,  op.  142,  No.  IV,  in 
F  minor,  the  following  passage  (c)  in  3-8  time,  re- 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 


quires  a  most  emphatic  metrical  accent  to  give  it  its 
true  character  in  spite  of  the  numerous  sforzati 
marked  to  show  the  change  of  the  rhythmical  figure 
to  2-8  groups.  How  plain  and  trivial  the  following 
"improvement"  of  that  passage  in  notation  (d) 
would  sound,  anybody  can  see  who  takes  the  trouble 
to  study  the  beautiful  composition. 

If  in  syncopated  passages  the  non-syncopic  part 
is  wanting,  as  is  often  the  case  with  Schumann,  the 
principle  must  still  be  latent,  though  the  accent  falls 
on  the  unaccented  part  of  the  meter. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Schumann,  and  all 
his  predecessors  and  followers  in  syncopation  with- 
out an  accompanying  and  contrasting  non-syncopic 
part,  was  lacking  the  practical  sense  to  avoid  mysti- 
fication, which  is  the  effect  of  his  notation  to  the 
uninitiated.  It  seems  apparent  that  a  passage  like 


^*$¥^H£"rr^ri 

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THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 


49 


the  following  from  the  Faschingsschwank  (e)  would 
have  been  more  properly  written  (/),  and  modern 
experts  in  notation,  who  see  no  occasion  for  syncopa- 
tion, may  insist  that  Schumann's  notation  is  not  as  it 
should  be.  However,  let  a  violinist  play  the  passage 
in  the  two  different  readings,  and  the  increased  ideal 
charm  in  Schumann's  notation  will  be  unquestion- 
able, since  the  original  will  imply  more  intensity  of 
feeling -==r  r==- (espressivo),  while  the  other  will 
read  plainly  rr>-  (diminuendo). 

The  point  can  now  be  argued  that  the  piano  does 
not  offer  the  means  for  the  reproduction  in  the 
original  sense,  and  in  the  abstract  this  can  not  be 
denied.  If,  however,  in  playing  this  syncopic 
passage  the  pedal  is  employed  in  the  following  man- 
ner (£•)  a  result  will  be  obtained,  which,  though 
faintly  representing  the  ideal,  will  be  more  adequate 


.(2. (2 


5<D  THE    PIANIST  S    ART. 

to  Schumann's  delightful  mysticism  than  the  realistic 
and  dry  effect  of  the  new  notation. 

In  the  last  movement  of  Schumann's  wonderful 
concerto,  the  second  motive  is  introduced  by  the 
orchestra  in  sixteen  very  simple  measures.  In  the 
original  notation  (//)  a  feeling  is  latent  of  such  su- 
preme inner  joy,  that  it  scarcely  can  find  utterance 
(hesitating  shyness — the  omission  of  the  accented 
part  in  every  second  measure);  what  a  charming 
contrast  this  ideal  conception  to  the  almost  defiant 
outburst  in  the  first  part  of  the  movement.  An  im- 
proved notation  for  the  sixteen  measures  (k]  would, 
indeed,  prove  a  veritable  march  of  the  "wooden 
shoemakers  in  a  puppet  show!" 

Melody,  the  outgrowth  of  musical  thought  and 
feeling,  is  a  rhythmical  succession  of  single  tones  so 
related  as  to  form  a  musical  sentence.  As  a  product 
of  musical  thought  melody  appears  mostly  in  a  com- 
pact form  as  an  essential  part  in  musical  composi- 
tion, and  it  forms  the  basis  for  thematic  construe- 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  5! 

tion,  either  in  its  integrity  or  in  the  shape  of  shorter 
parts  taken  from  it  and  called  motives.  Melodious 
forms  of  this  kind  occur  chiefly  in  classic  works,  and 
wherever  musical  form  and  thought  govern  expres- 
sion. 

In  thematic  work  the  melody,  or  theme,  must  be 
brought  out  clearly;  in  many  instances  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  mark  the  entrance  of  the  theme  by  an 
accent,  while  generally  the  whole  theme  in  its  musi- 
cal characteristics  should  be  brought  into  promi- 
nence. Artistic  discrimination  will  find  new  shades 
of  tone  and  expression  for  the  delivery  of  the  theme 
at  each  new  entrance,  and  though  the  character  must 
remain  the  same,  a  wide  margin  is  left  to  the  per- 
former for  a  display  of  more  or  less  intensity  of  feel- 
ing. The  shorter  motives  should,  in  a  measure,  re- 
flect the  character  of  the  theme,  displaying  greater 
energy  and  craving  more  attention  when  uncon- 
trolled by  the  theme,  subdued  again  by  the  entrance 
of  the  latter. 

Every  theme  or  motive,  as  it  gives  expression  to 
thought  or  feeling,  becomes  musically  valuable.  The 
succession  of  tones  in  itself  gives  utterance  to  a  cer- 
tain fundamental  sentiment,  to  which  rhythm  gives 
the  power  of  characteristic  insinuation,  and  as  such, 
rhythm  is  an  integral  and  inseparable  essence  in 
melody.  Rhythm  gives  the  logical  importance  to 
melodic  phrases,  and  insures  their  higher  musical 
merit.  In  ascending  melodious  phrases  the  general 
sentiment  will  indicate  rising  emotion,  descending 
succession  of  tones  greater  subsidence  of  feeling;  a 


52  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

series  of  diatonic  intervals  will  represent  a  more  even 
flow,  wider  steps  a  greater  excitement;  a  series  of 
ascending  and  descending  phrases  will  give  an  undu- 
lating character.  Melodious  form  will  gain  in  rich- 
ness and  refined  character  when  diatonic  intervals 
are  intermixed  with  chromatic  and  harmonic  steps, 
will  retain  greater  clearness  as  long  as  tonality  is 
preserved,  and  will  become  more  erratic  and  indefi- 
nite as  it  diverges  from  tonality. 

The  general  sentiment  thus  implied  in  the  con- 
struction of  musical  phrases  is  easily  understood, 
and  it  can  not  be  difficult  to  find  expression  for  it 
in  a  natural  way ;  diligent  study  will  bring  on  a 
greater  refinement  in  artistic  discrimination  and  the 
necessary  qualification  of  touch,  and  if  the  principle 
of  metrical  construction  is  always  correctly  applied 
to  the  melodious  flow,  musical  characteristics  in 
melody  will  find  proper  reproduction. 

Shorter  themes  find  full  expression  through  dia- 
lectic deduction.  When  the  theme  is  enlarged  so  as 
to  give  in  its  several  parts  a  complete  exposition  of 
its  meaning,  the  scientific  investigation  assumes  the 
form  of  variations.  In  the  variations  the  theme  is 
remodeled  in  its  harmonic  and  rhythmic  construc- 
tion, the  melody  itself  appears  in  various  shapes, 
major  and  minor  modes  are  interchanged,  a  slow 
movement  is  replaced  by  one  of  a  livelier  character, 
even  the  meter  is  changed  to  represent  the  meaning 
in  an  entirely  new  aspect.  Every  facility  that  art 
offers  in  musical  characteristics  is  at  the  disposal  of 
the  composer,  and  it  stands  to  reason  that  in  the 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART.  53 

master-works  of  this  kind  the  student  will  firrd  every 
assistance  in  the  acquisition  of  all  that  is  required 
for  a  good  characteristic  reproduction.  Mozart  and 
Haydn  have  employed  this  form  large!y  for  a  richer 
and  more  varied  display  of  technical  means,  but 
Beethoven  gives  in  this  form  a  series  of  characteris- 
tic sketches,  each  of  which  represents  the  original 
idea  in  distinctly  different  shape  and  meaning. 

The  student  will  derive  greater  benefit  for  a 
development  of  musical  characteristic  in  works  of 
this  kind  the  more  he  bears  in  mind  that,  as  the  vari- 
ations find  their  basis  in  the  theme  and  are  only  new 
expositions  of  a  first  idea,  the  theme,  however  sim- 
ple it  may  be,  requires  in  the  first  instance  a  thorough 
appreciation.  The  outlines  of  construction  and  the 
general  sentiment  of  the  theme  can  be  traced  in  the 
variations,  and  a  more  complete  understanding  of 
the  first  in  all  its  details  will  largely  assist  in  the 
development  of  the  new  characteristics,  which  in 
turn  may  reflect  a  new  light  on  the  theme. 

As  an  outgrowth  of  musical  feeling  melody  often 
assumes  a  broader  form;  the  feeling  is,  so  to  say, 
individualized,  and  in  a  generous  flow  it  seems  often 
to  overrun  musical  form  by  the  sway  of  its  power, 
and  as  melody  increases  in  impressiveness  harmony 
becomes  more  subservient  and  takes  the  place  of  an 
accompaniment.  In  this  the  bass,  as  the  musical 
foundation,  requires  some  prominence,  so  as  to  better 
support  the  melody,  and  this  it  generally  receives 
through  metrical  accentuation.  The  accompaniment 
should  always  be  discreet,  the  bass  giving  enough 


54  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

sustenance  so  that  the  melody  stands  out  clear  and 
distinct.  A  well  guarded  connection  in  musical 
sentiment  between  accompaniment  and  melody  will 
be  requisite,  and  a  discreet  continuity  in  the  melo- 
dious steps  of  the  bass  will  occasionally  lend  new 
charm  to  the  melody.  When  two  melodies  contrast 
with  each  other,  they  are  best  rendered  in  such  man- 
ner that  in  either  of  them  increased  motion  comes 
more  to  the  foreground.  Expression  can  not  come 
from  an  accompaniment,  and  should  emanate  from 
the  melody,  yet  the  expression  of  the  latter  can  be 
materially  assisted  by  the  other  parts.  All  the  grades 
and  shades  of  expression  should  be  carried  mainly 
by  the  melody,  and  only  when  greater  insistence  is 
required  the  accompaniment  can  rise  to  a  more 
powerful  delivery. 

Harmony  in  musical  composition  is  the  concord 
of  two  or  more  parts,  as  well  as  the  connection  of 
chords  according  to  established  rules.  Harmony 
offers  the  essential  means  for  larger  forms,  for  the 
formation  and  connection  of  musical  phrases;  it  sup- 
ports and  strengthens  the  melody,  clearly  defines 
doubtful  connections  of  the  same,  and  is  invaluable 
as  a  means  for  varying  and  changing  the  melodious 
flow  of  musical  matter. 

Harmony,  as  connected  with  expression  in  music, 
is  the  great  undercurrent  which  exercises  the  strong- 
est influence,  though  it  does  not  in  itself  offer  for 
expression  such  distinct  features  as  rhythm  and 
melody.  When,  however,  in  harmonic  progression 
one  or  more  intervals  of  a  chord  are  retarded  or  sus- 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  55 

pended  this  retardation  should  be  well  marked;  the 
suspended  note  as  such  causes  the  solution,  and 
stands,  therefore,  in  close  relation  to  it.  Is  the  sus- 
pended the  longer  note  of  the  two,  the  solution  will 
be  slurred  to  the  same  and  show  a  perceptible  de- 
crease in  tone;  if  the  suspended  note  is  shorter  than 
the  solution,  which  is  generally  the  case  when  the 
suspension  is  unprepared,  the  two  notes  are  discon- 
nected and  the  solution  also  receives  an  accent. 

Emotion  is  of  an  individual  character,  different 
in  every  human  being,  and  expression  in  an  artistic 
performance  is  an  individual  gift,  the  result  of  in- 
stinctive definition  of  varied  emotions  differing  in 
intensity  of  feeling  as  well  as  in  the  means  employed 
for  reproduction,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  per- 
former. Expression,  as  a  manner  of  reproduction, 
which  gives  suggestive  force  to  musical  ideas,  may 
be  effected  in  two  ways:  by  the  application  of  vari- 
ous degrees  of  power,  and  by  the  employment  of 
different  grades  of  motion.  The  first  is  generally 
understood  to  be  the  theory  of  dynamics,  and  the 
latter  would  fitly  be  called  the  theory  of  agogics.* 

The  dynamics  include  the  various  grades  and 
shades  of  strength,  the  piano  and  forte,  their  differ- 
ent degrees  from  the  pianissimo  to  the  fortissimo, 
the  crescendo  and  diminuendo;  under  this  head  fall 
also  the  metrical  and  rhythmical  accents  and  the 
sforzato. 

The  agogics  comprise  a  correct  time  (time-keep- 
ing), the  even  tenor  of  motion,  the  different  degrees 

*From  ayeoyrj  action,  as  dynamics  from  fiuVaftis  force. 


56  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

of  movement,  adagio  and  allegro,  with  their  modifi- 
cations from  the  largo  to  the  prestissimo,  the  ritar- 
dando  and  accelerando,  the  tenuto  or  pathetic  stress, 
the  fermate  and  the  rubato. 

Dynamics,  as  far  as  they  include  the  different 
grades  of  power,  are  part  of  the  pianist's  technical 
outfit  represented  in  the  adequateness  of  his  touch; 
as  a  medium  for  expression  dynamics  require  the  in- 
tellectual faculty,  which  finds  the  proper  grade  of 
tone  in  the  right  place,  and  qualifies  the  touch;  this 
faculty  is  based  upon  comparative  estimation  and  is 
part  of  the  artistic  discrimination.  Piano  and  forte 
and  their  various  degrees  imply  an  even  grade  of 
tone  for  the  passages  so  indicated,  which  should  in- 
clude accented  parts  as  well  as  unaccented  and  in- 
cidental modifications  of  tone,  so  that  they  are  dis- 
tinctly different  in  piano  and  forte.  Crescendo  and 
diminuendo  imply  gradual  changes  in  the  even 
grade  of  power;  crescendo  is  piano  growing  into 
forte,  and  diminuendo  is  forte  leading  gradually  to 
piano;  the  change  in  the  tone  gradation  must  be 
gradual  whether  crescendo  or  diminuendo  are  of 
long  or  short  extent,  and  the  greater  the  duration 
of  this  gradual  change  the  more  will  it  tax  the  pian- 
ist's capabilities,  both  intellectually  and  in  the  de- 
velopment of  tone.  When  crescendo  and  diminu- 
endo are  combined,  this  implies  a  gradual  increase 
to  a  climax  and  a  subsequent  gradual  decrease;  the 
climax  is  mostly  in  the  center  of  the  "swell,"  and 
the  greater  the  climax  the  more  intensity  of  feeling 
is  manifested.  This  swell  is  frequently  employed  in 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  57 

phrasing,  to  give  vital  energy  and  a  well  qualified 
feeling  to  melodious  passages,  according  to  the  nat- 
ural sentiment  implied  byascewding  and  descending 
series  of  tones,  and  could  in  this  proper  adjustment 
find  no  fitter  name  than  the  "espressivo."  The  cli- 
max of  the  espressivo  will  always  coincide  with  a 
metrical  accent,  and  will  vary  according  to  the  in- 
tensity of  feeling,  which  in  turn  must  be  governed 
by  the  general  character  of  the  composition.  Greater 
accents  for  single  notes  in  musical  notation  are 
marked  by  a  sforzato;  sudden  changes  in  the  grade 
of  power  for  passages  or  phrases  are  indicated  by  a 
forte  subito,  or  piano  subito;  changes  of  this  kind  are 
in  some  works,  particularly  Beethoven's,  too  mark- 
edly characteristic  to  admit  of  conventional  prepara- 
tion by  crescendo  or  diminuendo,  and  must  be  stri'ctly 
carried  into  effect. 

The  underlying  current  in  all  that  pertains  to 
agogics  is  keeping  time,  i.  e.,  to  regulate  the  succes- 
sion of  sounds  according  to  their  rhythmical  value 
by  an  even  principle.  To  keep  time  is  the  first  and 
fundamental  requirement  in  a  musical  performance, 
and  only  when  this  most  essential  faculty  has  been 
fully  obtained  by  the  student's  efforts,  artistic  free- 
dom in  time-keeping  will  appear  as  emanating  from 
a  master's  purpose,  while  it  will  otherwise  imply  in- 
capacity, carelessness,  or  frivolous  license. 

Next  to  keeping  strict  time,  which  is  one  of  the 
technical  prerequisites,  comes  the  selection  of  a 
proper  degree  of  motion,  and  the  thorough  appreci- 
ation of  the  composer's  intent  and  purpose,  as  indi- 


58  THE    PIANISTS    ART. 

cated  by  the  technical  terms:  largo,  adagio,  andante, 
allegro,  presto,  and  their  various  modifications. 
For  the  student  who  aims  in  the  first  place  at  a 
proper  reproduction  of  the  composer's  intentions, 
these  indications  should  always  be  the  rule,  though 
artistic  temperament  will  in  course  of  time  acquire  a 
limited  freedom,  and  become  an  essential  factor  in 
the  minute  selection  of  the  proper  movement. 

An  important  part  in  all  that  pertains  to  agogics 
seems  to  be  assigned  to  the  metrical  units.  The  fact 
that  a  meter  may  be  represented  in  different  units  of 
half,  quarter,  eighth  notes,  etc.,  in  the  same  degree 
of  motion,  gives  in  itself  an  abundant  variety.  A 
movement,  for  instance,  in  allabreve  time  (2-2),  con- 
stitutes a  meter  of  two  units,  each  of  which  repre- 
sents the  value  of  one  half  note;  if  the  proper  degree 
of  movement  is  adagio  the  metronome  will  probably 
mark  sixty  units,  that  is,  half  notes,  to  a  minute.  A 
movement  in  common  time  (C)  constitutes  a  meter 
of  four  units,  each  of  which  has  the  value  of  one 
quarter  note,  and  if  the  movement  is  the  same  as  in 
the  allabreve  time,  i.  e.,  adagio,  there  will  Le  sixty 
quarter  notes  to  a  minute,  while  in  three-eighths 
time  in  adagio  movement  there  will  be  sixty  eighth 
notes  to  a  minute.  It  follows  that,  if  the  movement 
is  the  same,  the  different  units  as  half,  quarter  and 
eighth  notes  represent  different  values;  this  fact 
could  not  have  any  influence  on  the  movement 
proper,  inasmuch  as  slow  movements  could  be  ren- 
dered so  much  faster,  and  vice  versa;  or  an  allabreve 
time  could  be  written  in  2-4  time  by  reducing  the 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  59 

notes  in  writing  to  half  their  value.  However,  as 
large  bodies  move  slower  than  small  bodies,  it  seems 
clear  that  the  larger  unit  of  allabreve  time  will  insure 
a  more  dignified  and  broader  flow,  and  as  an  increase 
in  size,  barely  perceptible  in  a  large  unit,  would  swell 
the  smaller  out  of  all  proportion,  it  follows  that 
larger  units  will  allow  a  greater  breadth  of  expres- 
sion, so  that  greater  scope  can  be  permitted 
wherever  modifications  of  the  strict  time  are  in  order. 

As  in  poetry  there  is  a  distinct  difference  in  mod- 
ern usage  to  that  of  the  halcyon  days  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  distinguished  between 
long  and  short  feet,  thus  giving  greater  occasion  for 
pathetic  display,  while  modern  poetry  gains  in 
rhythmical  precision  by  the  use  of  accented  and 
unaccented  syllables,  so  in  musical  reproduction  a 
distinction  must  be  made  between  rhythmic  flow  and 
pathetic  stress.  Rhythm  forms  the  realistic  basis 
which  a  pathetic  rendition  under  certain  circum- 
stances idealizes,  and,  to  some  extent,  modifies. 
Pathos  is  a  contagious  warmth  of  feeling,  especially 
that  which  awakens  tender  emotions;  and  it  implies 
in  musical  performance,  where  emotion  finds  repro- 
duction as  the  artistic  realization  of  an  abstract  idea, 
greater  breadth  and  quiet  in  rhythmic  motion  itself. 
To  clearly  define  this  pathetic  stress  is  as  impossible 
as  to  analyze  individuality;  it  is  altogether  an  indi- 
vidual attribute  in  musical  expression,  and  varies 
according  to  the  artistic  potentiality  of  the  individ- 
ual. 

The  rhythm    !        I  for  instance  represents  in  itself 


60  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

a  fact,  which  as  such  can  not  be  altered,  yet  in  artis- 
tic rendition  this  rhythm  embodies  a  different  mean- 
ing according  to  the  character  of  the  composition 
and  requires  a  different  reading  under  changed  cir- 
cumstances. A  martial  spirit,  bold  and  aggressive, 
will  give  the  ^  in  a  full  and  determined  manner, 
while  the  fc  will  represent  a  short,  elastic  swing  to 
the  I  .  This  same  rhythm  in  a  nocturne  or  any 
composition  of  pathetic  character  will  give  less  full- 
ness and  decision  to  the  Is  and  more  breadth  to  the 
fc  to  represent  the  languid  longing,  will  do  so  as 
much,  in  fact,  as  is  compatible  with  the  rendition  of 
the  rhythmical  figure.  It  does  not  naturally  follow 
that  all  short  notes  in  slow  movements  require 
greater  breadth,  but  the  pathos  of  the  slow  move- 
ment can  only  be  attained  by  greater  quietness  in 
the  rhythmical  flow.  This  pathetic  stress  does  not 
at  any  time  call  for  greater  power  of  tone,  is  entirely 
independent  as  a  means  of  expression  from  metrical 
or  rhythmical  accent,  and  may  be  employed  wher- 
ever greater  breadth  or  intensity  of  feeling  seeks 
utterance.  If  this  pathetic  stress  coincides  with  the 
rhythmic  or  metrical  accent,  the  emphasis  will  be  so 
much  more  powerful. 

The  pathetic  stress  does  not  affect  the  movement 
nor  change  rhythmical  motion;  it  is  only  a  slight 
sustaining  of  notes  or  rests,  depending  in  musical 
rendition  on  the  individual  nature  of  the  performer. 
When  such  pathetic  stress  is  a  distinct  feature  of 
musical  character  in  the  intentions  of  the  composer, 
it  is  indicated  in  musical  notation  by  a  tenuto;  if 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  61 

part  of  a  movement  or  the  whole  movement  is  to  be 
rendered  with  greater  pathos,  it  is  marked  sostenuto. 

The  fermate  seems  to  have  been  intended  origi- 
nally to  mark  the  end  of  a  composition,  and  when 
it  occurred  in  the  course  of  the  piece  the  word 
"  fine  "  was  added  to  show  that  it  was  intended  to 
close  the  piece  at  the  fermate  after  repetition;  it 
was  also  used  in  sacred  music  to  designate  the 
verses  in  the  chorale,  and  in  secular  music  to  point 
out  notes  which  the  singer  or  player  was  expected 
to  ornament  and  embellish  ad  libitum.  The  fermate 
arrests  motion,  either  to  effect  greater  emphasis  or 
to  allow  a  more  complete  and  exhaustive  display  of 
feeling,  and  the  length  of  the  fermate  depends 
therefore  on  the  power  of  thought  or  emotion  dis- 
played, and  will  vary  accordingly  from  a  long 
tenuto  to  a  full  stop,  which  brings  the  feeling  of 
complete  rest. 

Gradual  changes  in  the  even  flow  of  time  are  the 
ritardando  and  accelerando.  Ritardando  implies  a 
slackening  of  speed  by  degrees,  and  accelerando  a 
gradual  increase  in  motion.  Ritardando  and  accel- 
erando applied  to  short  sentences  in  musical  con- 
struction require  less  artistic  judgment,  but  when 
they  cover  larger  periods  great  care  must  be  taken 
that  the  change  in  motion  appears  more  noticeable 
only  toward  the  end.  Ritardando  is,  perhaps,  more 
frequently  applicable  and  easily  effected  than  accel- 
erando. Ritardando  and  accelerando  can  be  ap- 
plied to  any  part  or  portion  of  phrases  or  periods; 
they  do  not  affect  the  rhythmical  construction 


62  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

since  the  relative  value  of  notes  must  be  strictly 
carried  into  effect;  it  is  the  general  flow  of  rhyth- 
mical matter,  which  is  retarded  or  accelerated. 
Accelerando  and  ritardando  in  agogics  are  analogous 
to  crescendo  and  diminuendo  in  dynamics,  and  are 
often  combined,  crescendo  with  accelerando,  and 
ritardando  with  diminuendo,  in  accordance  with  a 
natural  sentiment;  accelerando  can,  however,  be 
combined  with  diminuendo  and  crescendo  with 
ritardando,  and  acquire,  in  that  case,  greater  signifi- 
cance of  expression.  Accelerando  and  crescendo 
succeeded  by  a  ritard-diminuendo  form  an  "  ex- 
pressivo  "  of  a  more  erratic  character. 

Ritenuto  requires  a  perceptible  change  to  the 
slower  at  once,  as  stretto  demands  a  sudden  increase 
in  speed;  ritenuto  and  stretto  are  subject  to  musical 
construction  inasmuch  as  they  can  be  applied  only 
to  a  whole  phrase  or  sentence  or  a  plurality  of  these; 
neither  of  them  require  preparation  by  degrees,  nor 
do  they  in  themselves  include  various  degrees  of 
speed;  still  greater  changes  from  the  original  mo- 
tion are  designated  by  piu  ritenuto  or  piu  stretto. 

Ritardando  and  accelerando,  as  well  as  ritenuto 
and  stretto,  as  essential  factors  in  the  composer's 
ideal  conception  of  the  character  of  his  work,  will 
find  place  in  notation,  and  can  not  be  mistaken;  their 
rendition,  however,  is  an  individual  matter  and  de- 
pends largely  on  artistic  discrimination  and  the  tem- 
perament of  the  performer. 

A  proper  insight  into  metrical  construction  and 
an  instinctive  appreciation  of  musical  characteris- 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART. 


tics,  which  can  be  developed  to  a  degree  by  good 
examples,  are  the  prerequisites  for  artistic  phrasing. 
To  clearly  define  musical  sentences  in  every  detail 
in  themselves,  as  well  as  in  their  relation  to  each 
other  and  in  regard  to  their  position  in  metrical 
construction,  *  constitutes  the  art  of  phrasing. 
Every  instance  will  call  for  a  special  treatment,  and, 
though  the  natural  sentiments  underlying  melodious 
form  will  to  some  extent  determine  a  general  out- 


*  The  following  from  Beethoven's  op.  14,  No.  II 


would  require  a  markedly  different  reading  if  the  position  of  the  sentence  in 
metrical  construction  were  changed,  as  in  the  following  examples: 


=Hpiiiii=   ES^^jEE^gggf; 


64  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

line,  every  case  requires  particular  study.  Phrasing 
can  be  effected  by  dynamic  means  or  agogic,  or 
both;  and  individual  artistic  taste  will  determine  to 
what  extent  tone  shading,  or  modifications  in  the 
even  motion  of  time  shall  be  employed  in  each  in- 
stance, yet  there  are  some  distinct  features  in  musi- 
cal characteristics,  which  an  individual  conception 
must  take  into  consideration. 

In  classic  compositions,  where  a  logical  develop- 
ment insures  lucidity  of  thought  and  clearness  of 
form,  where  sentiment  and  expression  are  of  a  more 
uniform  character  clearly  defined  in  the  relationship 
of  harmonic  connections,  phrasing  should  be  a  mat- 
ter of  tone  shading  to  preserve  the  ideas  in  their 
simplicity  and  beauty  of  form.  The  flow  of  musical 
matter  must  be  uninterrupted;  delicate  tone  shading 
will  sufficiently  mark  the  different  phrases,  and  only 
at  the  close  of  larger  musical  periods  greater 
breadth  may  be  in  place  merely  as  a  matter  of  log- 
ical emphasis.  That  a  certain  human  feeling  in  a 
simple  way  can  thus  be  imparted  even  to  works  of 
the  severest  form,  without  affecting  the  architectonic 
beauty,  is  undeniable,  and  the  very  nature  of  a  con- 
struction, which  impresses  mainly  through  its  beauty 
and  compactness  of  form,  makes  it  obligatory  to 
avoid  arbitrary  changes,  however  slight,  in  the  even 
tenor  of  motion. 

When  melodious  form  assumes  a  broader  cast 
and  a  more  predominating  influence  in  musical 
construction;  when  systematic  conclusions  give  way 
to  imagination,  which  in  fanciful  dreams  creates 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  65 

forms  of  a  more  fictitious  character;  when  indefin- 
able longing  seeks  expression  for  feeling  which  has 
scarcely  been  realized  intellectually;  when  logical 
deduction  and  classic  perfection  of  form  give  way  to 
the  fantastic;  when  in  harmonic  connection  affinity 
is  disregarded  so  that  tonality  is  frequently  lost 
sight  of;  when  more  or  less  sudden  changes  in  har- 
mony appear  less  natural  and  comprehensible,  the 
general  movement  (though  smooth  and  even)  will 
reflect  largely  these  musical  characteristics,  and 
phrasing  and  expression  take  on  a  more  erratic  char- 
acter. Phrasing,  the  outward  style,  which  the  artist's 
taste  lavishes  on  the  details  of  musical  construction, 
and  expression,  representing  the  inner  value  of 
musical  phrases,  must  be  in  intimate  relationship  to 
the  character  of  the  work,  and  musical  characteristic 
superior  to  individual  conception. 

It  is  generally  understood  among  pianists  and 
musicians  that  Bach  must  be  played  in  strict  time, 
that  there  is  no  indecision  in  his  musical  strides,  no 
wavering  in  the  connecting  links  of  his  works. 
Haydn  and  Mozart  are  too  little  taken  into  consider- 
tion  in  this  fast  musical  life  of  ours;  they  are  sadly 
depreciated  and  often  rated  as  antiquated  and  child- 
ish, and  if  Beethoven  is  played  in  conformity  with 
the  clearness  of  musical  thought  and  form  which,  at 
least  in  his  two  first  periods,  admits  of  little  change 
in  the  even  tenor  of  motion,  the  performance  is 
characterized  as  a  matter-of-fact  rendition,  and  as 
manifesting  an  intelligence  which  appreciates  notes 
but  not  their  sentiment  and  poetry.  In  the  eager- 

5 


66  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

ness  for  new  phases  of  emotion  revealed  in  musical 
expression,  the  critical  musical  world  sometimes  for- 
gets that  musical  characteristics  of  different  times 
and  different  schools  must  be  rendered  in  some  con- 
formity with  their  style  and  manner,  and  the  rubato 
style  of  playing  will  just  as  little  serve  Beethoven 
as  the  severe  style  would  give  a  true  representa- 
tion of  Chopin.  If  Mozart,  Haydn  and  the  early 
Beethoven  show  greater  freedom  of  thought  and 
expression  than  the  venerable  cantor  of  Leipzig, 
their  musical  construction  offers  such  well-defined 
outlines  that  little  occasion  can  be  found  for  expres- 
sion by  agogic  means;  ritardando  and  accelerando 
or  sudden  changes  in  time,  can  very  rarely  be  em- 
ployed, and  only  in  the  most  imperceptible  degrees, 
except  when  indicated  in  the  composer's  notation. 

Beethoven  in  his  later  works  shows  a  decided 
contrast  in  the  details  of  notation  to  those  of  earlier 
date;  the  inner  necessity  for  larger  scope  in  expres- 
sion can  easily  be  traced  in  his  careful  notation  in 
opus  90  and  the  later  works  for  the  piano,  and, 
though  the  firmness  and  compactness  of  his  sen- 
tences are  unimpaired  and  require  a  reading  in  close 
conformity  with  the  construction,  the  contrasts 
effected  by  a  juxtaposition  of  strongly  differing 
musical  sentiments  offer  at  times  occasion  for  a 
noticeable  change  in  movement,  and  the  connecting 
phrases  allow  the  greater  freedom  of  a  singer  in  time 
and  expression. 

Schubert,  not  inferior  to  any  of  our  great  com- 
posers, develops  in  course  of  time  a  rnythmical 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  67 

construction  strongly  contrasting  at  times  with  the 
meter,  and  a  superabundance  of  negative  melodious 
accents,  which  can  scarcely  be  traced  in  his  earlier 
piano  compositions;  the  systematic  and  energetic 
development  of  a  greater  variety  in  expression  still 
preserves  the  outlines  of  form,  but  gives  occasion  for 
noticeable  modifications  in  time. 

Schumann's  "motives  show  a  marked  simplicity, 
a  sturdy  compactness,  which  calls  for  a  healthy 
rendition,  free  from  sentimentality  and  artificial 
affectation;  their  sentiment,  full  of  vigor  and  cordial 
warmth,  is  one  of  deliberate  reason  and  judgment, 
the  outgrowth  of  a  severe  musical  conscientiousness, 
which  the  master's  art  and  imagination  clothe  in 
many  fantastic  garbs.  While  the  poetic  essence  of 
Schumann's  motives,  whether  full  of  indefinable 
longing  or  youthful  vigor,  give  a  definite  outline  for 
reproduction,  their  exposition  full  of  visionary 
imagination  and  often  of  a  rich  fantastic  turn  must 
govern  the  expression  which  will  require  large  free- 
dom in  movement  according  to  the  more  or  less 
erratic  nature  of  the  work.  Schumann's  visionary 
spirit  often  disregards  but  scarcely  loses  sight  alto- 
gether of  form  as  the  underlying  principle,  and  in  a 
number  of  compositions  of  the  highest  artistic  and 
musical  merit  he  finally  succeeds  in  assimilating 
beauty  of  form  and  his  romantic  spirit. 

Larger  power  of  musical  exposition  in  the  com- 
poser calls  for  greater  freedom  of  expression  in  the 
performer,  and  tone  shading,  as  the  fundamental 
principle  for  phrasing  and  expression  in  the  severe 


68  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

style,  still  remains  a  prominent  feature  in  classic  ex- 
positions, while  only  the  inner  tendency  and  meaning 
of  later  compositions  have,  by  degrees  and  in  a  nat- 
ural process,  through  greater  expressive  power  in 
details,  necessitated  such  modifications  in  time  as 
musical  exposition  engendered,  until  it  finally  ap- 
pears as  a  self-assertive  and  essential  factor  in  Chopin, 
known  as  the  rubato. 

To  Chopin,  form  and  rule  become  a  fetter  and  a 
burden — his  genius  is  wont  to  roam  free  and  unre- 
stricted, and  only  the  lithe  and  pliable  forms  unfold 
truly  his  wonderful  power  of  expression.  The  rich 
display  of  harmony  seems  almost  always  improvised; 
the  idea  of  tonality  is  often  altogether  vague  and 
undecided,  and  sharply  accented  rhythms  in  decided 
contrast  to  the  metrical  construction  give  the  melo- 
dious strains  a  style  of  "  recitative,"  which  calls  for  an 
expression  as  capricious  as  the  mood  of  the  writer. 
The  world  in  which  he  dreams;  the  pride  and  glory 
of  heroes;  the  love  and  grace  of  beautiful  women; 
brilliant  deeds  and  festive  scenes;  sweet  secrets  and 
dark  lore,  the  hopes  and  despair  of  his  nation,  all 
are  brought  near  to  us  in  kaleidoscopic  array  in  his 
mazurkas,  valses,  impromptus,  nocturnes,  polonaises, 
etc.  Chopin's  original  style  of  playing,  the  rubato, 
is  a  capricious  robbing  of  time  by  accelerando  or 
ritardando,  more  often  by  sudden  changes  in  time, 
subject  to  no  particular  rule  but  the  whim  of  the 
performer,  yet  only  truly  effective  when  fully  con- 
trolled by  the  consciousness  of  musical  feeling  and 
highly  matured  artistic  taste. 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  69 

More  or  less  characteristic  features  can  be  dis- 
tinctly traced  in  each  of  our  great  piano  composers; 
definite  outlines  that  give  suggestive  force  of  mean- 
ing and  feeling  can  be  found  in  all  compositions  of 
high  merit,  which  an  artistic  reproduction  must  re- 
flect in  some  measure  even  in  outward  style.  It  is 
in  this  way  only  that  a  well-matured  characteristic 
reading  can  be  given  to  our  great  masters  each  in 
his  separate  way,  and  musical  reproduction  will  be 
of  a  higher  order,  the  more  the  composer's  ideas  and 
his  mode  of  development  in  thought  and  expression 
are  absorbed  by  truly  artistic  individuality. 


CHARACTER. 


ART  in  a  general  way  presumes  an  activity  which, 
by  more  than  ordinary  skill  and  judgment,  pro- 
duces results  that  have  a  certain  grade  of  perfection 
and  inner  merit;  any  one  showing  science  and  taste 
superior  to  a  deft  manipulation  is  an  artist,  and  what 
he  accomplishes  artistic.  Every  composition  of 
higher  musical  and  artistic  merit  is  a  work  of  art; 
which  is  in  itself  the  more  perfect  the  more  it  is  en- 
dowed with  a  pervading  and  unifying  principle,  in 
which  all  the  parts  are  so  intimately  joined  and 
co-related  as  to  find  their  ideal  existence  and  artistic 
qualification  only  in  their  well  defined  relations  to 
each  other.  Thought  becomes  clearly  conscious  of 
itself  in  the  composer,  and  produces  the  beautiful 
with  the  distinct  aim  of  embodying  some  definite 
phase  of  truth  clearly  discernible  from  some  other 
ideal  in  its  particular  qualities.  As  the  composer 
has  the  power  of  apprehending  this  ideal  character, 
the  inner  consciousness  of  truth  and  beauty,  and 
realizes  it  in  his  work,  so  the  performer  must  seek  it 
by  virtue  of  intellectual  comprehension. 

Our  great  composers  impress  more  even  by  the 
truth  of  their  convictions  and  the  logic  of  their  ideas 

70 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  'Jl 

than  the  perfect  beauty  of  their  work;  none  has 
greater  power  of  conceiving  graceful  forms,  nowhere 
may  be  found  a  more  profound  devotion  to  the 
beautiful,  but  the  grace  and  beauty  are  inherent  only 
to  their  artistic  purpose  in  giving  expression  to  an 
ideal  truth  which  their  creative  genius  calls  forth 
from  the  fertile  domains  of  boundless  imagination. 
Their  work  shows  all  the  clearness  of  outline  in  con- 
struction, the  symmetry  and  eurhythmy  which  realize 
the  impression  and  an  artistic  perfection  in  detail 
which  includes  the  most  intricate  and  difficult  com- 
binations, as  well  as  the  least  perceptible  grada- 
tions. The  works  of  the  various  masters  show  a 
marked  difference  in  the  technic  of  composition  and 
the  individual  manner  of  the  instrument,  and  it  is 
the  sum  total  of  all  the  qualities  which  represents  the 
character  of  a  composition  and  makes  it  distinctly 
different  from  another. 

The  intervals,  rhythm,  meter,  the  degree  of  mo- 
tion and  the  volume  of  sound  are  the  means  which 
materialize  the  composer's  ideas,  and  their  complex 
aggregate  is  required  to  reproduce  the  work  in  the 
fullness  of  artistic  merit  as  the  master  saw  it  in  the 
unvarnished  truth  of  artistic  beauty  and  heard  it  in 
his  own  artistic  conception.  A  change  in  the  rhythm, 
any  marked  deviation  from  the  degree  of  motion,  or 
a  misplacement  in  the  volume  of  sound  which  is  not 
justified  in  the  composer's  intentions,  or  the  general 
character  of  his  style,  changes  the  meaning  of  a 
musical  phrase  entirely  and  mars  the  artistic  beauty 
of  the  work. 


72  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

Beethoven's  sonatas  and  concertos  retain  their 
undiminished  power  and  beauty  after  a  lapse  of 
many  decades,  while  thousands  of  compositions 
have  disappeared,  whose  melodious  and  brilliant 
make-up,  beautiful  modulations  and  striking  rhythms 
for  a  time  were  the  supreme  delight  of  enthusiastic 
amateurs.  If  Beethoven's  art  seems  to  have  grown 
stronger  in  its  perennial,  youthful  beauty,  it  is  because 
every  phrase  and  detail,  every  light  and  shade  is  so 
full  of  the  consciousness  of  artistic  qualification  as 
to  withstand  the  decaying  influence  of  time  and 
fashion,  while  in  the  host  of  forgotten  works  the 
disparity  between  cause  and  effect,  creative  genius 
and  artistic  shapeliness  did  not  insure  a  lasting  life. 

Whatever  is  done  by  composer  or  performer  has 
an  effect  of  one  kind  or  another  and  is  never  indif- 
ferent. As  the  composer  in  the  full  consciousness  of 
his  ideal  creates  the  work  of  art  in  sincerity  of  pur- 
pose and  honest  devotion,  so  the  performer,  intent 
on  higher  artistic  merit  in  reproduction,  must  repro- 
duce the  composition  in  all  its  detailed  qualifications, 
and  the  ideal  character  whose  original  beauty  has 
inspired  the  master,  and  which  he  has  traced  in 
unmistakable  outlines,  must  be  the  object  of  the 
pianist's  aspiration.  The  hearty  desire  to  do  full 
justice  to  the  composer  and  his  work  is  not  sufficient 
as  it  lacks  the  prudence  and  foresight  which  govern 
and  direct  the  romantic  and  imaginary  essence  in  the 
individual. 

Expression,  always  of  an  individual  type  in  the 
performer,  though  it  employs  all  the  refinement 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART.  73 

of  pianistic  art,  frequently  affects  a  sort  of  sameness 
in  playing  which,  in  course  of  time,  loses  its  charm 
to  a  great  extent,  becomes  dull  and  monotonous 
even  in  excellent  players,  and  gives  at  best  an 
impoverished  satisfaction  to  the  connoisseur.  The 
purely  individual  reflection  of  an  artistic  ideal  shows 
a  greater  artistic  weakness  the  more  it  lacks  the 
inner  force  of  living  beauty  which  is  embodied  in 
the  truth  and  sincerity  of  the  composer's  art.  The 
student  must  gain  that  thoroughly  practical  musical 
ability  and  artless  devotion  to  the  master's  creative 
authority  which  will  fit  the  artist  to  overcome  by  a 
characteristic  reading  the  dullness  and  insipidity  of 
a  purely  individual  and  conventional  style. 

Playing  is  like  speech — something  that  anybody, 
even  a  parrot,  can  acquire  under  normal  conditions. 
Language  as  well  as  playing  is  a  matter  of  practice 
and  education;  the  most  capable  individual,  if  de- 
prived of  all  the  benefits  which  civilization  has  accu- 
mulated for  him,  would  just  as  little  find  language  a 
natural  means  of  communication  as  the  pianist  who 
did  not  benefit  by  the  discoveries  and  improve- 
ments of  others  would  find  execution  a  natural  gift. 
Language  is  one  of  the  commodities  of  ordinary  life 
which  rises  to  greater  dignity  only  as  it  adapts  itself 
to  higher  purposes.  The  speech  of  the  lower  classes, 
as  well  as  of  the  educated  and  refined,  gains  in  value 
and  power  over  the  prattle  of  children  and  the  small 
talk  of  the  day  when  it  becomes  the  carrier  of  ideas 
and  sentiments.  The  well-matured  effort  of  the 
orator  with  all  its  rhetorical  flourish  relies  for  effect 


74  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

mainly  on  the  well-planned  arguments,  but  its  power 
and  sway  is  proportionate  to  the  truth  and  sincerity 
of  the  convictions. 

Piano  playing  is  a  feat  of  manual  dexterity  and 
mechanical  skill  which  rises  to  artistic  importance  as  it 
becomes  a  means  of  expression  in  musical  reproduc- 
tion. The  elegant  smoothness  of  intricate  passages, 
the  dazzling  brilliancy  of  trills  and  the  grace  of  deli- 
cate ornamentation,  all  the  various  qualifications  of 
the  touch — the  scintillating  staccato,  the  clinging 
legato,  the  insinuating  tenderness  of  the  piano  and 
the  commanding  power  of  the  forte;  the  even  more 
expressive  restrictions  of  the  movement — the  impet- 
uous accelerando,  the  lingering  ritardando,  the 
ritenuto  and  stretto  and  the  fanciful  rubato — all  are 
at  the  player's  bidding  to  serve  his  artistic  purpose, 
yet  more  artistic  and  effective  as  the  performer  sacri- 
fices individual  taste  and  liking  to  the  higher 
requirements  of  musical  art  as  qualified  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  composition. 

The  pianist's  education,  as  practical  as  it  is  in  all 
mechanical  work,  is  thoroughly  romantic,  i.  e.,  spec- 
ulative and  impractical  in  a  musical  way;  though 
painstaking  and  exacting  in  all  the  details  of  execu- 
tion, the  teacher  allows  a  remarkably  large  freedom 
to  the  pupil  in  musical  matters.  Even  where  the 
mechanical  element  in  the  average  pupil  is  not  more 
responsive  to  his  efforts  than  the  intellectual,  the 
teacher  who  finds  in  the  brilliant  though  empty  dis- 
play of  his  pupil  a  readier  assurance  of  success  aims 
at  the  production  of  an  executant  rather  than  the 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART.  75 

development  of  an  intellectual  conception.  True 
interest  in  the  art  and  its  elevating  mission  and  the 
pupil's  increased  ability  in  musical  appreciation  and 
enjoyment  are  sacrificed  to  a  digital  facility,  which, 
though  of  the  highest  value  as  an  agent  in  musical 
art,  has  in  itself  no  intrinsic  or  artistic  merit  how- 
ever prized  it  may  be  by  the  multitude. 

While  working  with  patient  insistence  for  the 
greatest  possible  accuracy  in  execution  and  finger- 
ing, would  it  not  be  well  to  use  the  same  gentle, 
never-failing  persuasion  in  regard  to  the  more  indef- 
inite requirements  of  musical  technic?  To  not 
only  have  the  pupil  know  that  forte  means  loud,  that 
crescendo  is  piano  growing  to  forte,  explain  what  is 
meant  by  ritardando  or  ritenuto,  etc.,  etc.,  but  wait 
in  the  same  hopeful  spirit  until  the  pupil  does  these 
things  with  some  assurance  and  efficiency,  instinct- 
ively, as  the  matters  of  execution  when  and  wherever 
they  are  required?  It  is  much  more  difficult  for  the 
student  to  acquire  a  practical  ability  in  musical  mat- 
ters than  in  mechanical  work,  yet  what  assistance 
does  he  generally  receive  in  this  respect?  The  sim- 
ple knowledge  of  technical  terms  which  every 
music-primer  affords  will  never  insure  that  capabil- 
ity which  is  to  guide  the  pianist  to  the  inner  sanct- 
uary of  musical  art. 

Individual  taste  and  liking  of  the  student  com- 
mand an  early  and  prominent  consideration  in  mat- 
ters musical,  and  as  long  as  they  do  not  counteract 
the  established  principles — i.  e ,  smoothness  and 
clearness  in  execution  and  the  much  coveted  rapid- 


76  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

ity  of  finger  and  wrist-movement — the  student  is 
considered  on  the  best  road  to  a  fine  style  in  piano- 
playing.  Thus,  it  is  claimed,  nothing  is  done  that 
could  impede  the  pupil's  individual  development! — 
as  though  the  natural  development  of  individuality 
could  ever  attain  genuine  artistic  importance! 

After  years  of  training  and  hard  labor,  what  is 
the  actual  outcome?  That  scores  of  players  with 
more  than  average  ability  to  build  upon  have  all 
been  developed  after  the  one  unvaried  pattern;  that 
the  difference  in  their  playing  is  clearly  apparent 
only  in  the  peculiar  adaptability  and  style  of  execu- 
tion; that  scarcely  one  is  found  who  possesses  a 
markedly  individual  style,  and  that  a  rare  bird 
indeed  is  the  pianist  who  is  capable  of  giving  at 
least  some  abstract  of  the  truth  which  the  character 
of  the  composition  and  the  composer's  general  style 
plainly  indicate.  It  is  easier  nowadays  to  find  a 
pianist  who  excels  in  a  Liszt  rhapsodic  than  one 
who  can  render  a  composition  of  Mozart  or  the 
earlier  Beethoven  with  the  required  unaffected  sin- 
cerity; and  it  is  not  the  production  of  far  removed 
years  which  our  generation  finds  difficult  of  attain- 
ment— art  and  its  true  children  retain  their  youth, 
at  least  in  the  spirit,  in  spite  of  the  flight  of  time — 
even  modern  compositions  of  valuable  musical  char- 
acter yet  modest  pianistic  aspirations,  as  the  less 
difficult  works  of  Schumann  and  others  fail  to  get 
more  than  a  superficial — artificial — reading. 

All  the  meaningless  phrases  which  serve  as  road- 
stones  in  the  student's  educational  course,  from  the 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  77 

barren  waste  of  countless  studies  to  the  ostentatious 
finery  of  Liszt's  rhapsodies  (worthy  evidence,  never- 
theless, of  the  performer's  prowess!)  further  the 
natural  development,  and  after  years  of  toil  and 
labor  the  student  commands  a  marked  mechanical 
proficiency,  while  even  the  rudimentary  details  in 
musical  technic  are  still  in  an  embryonic  state. 
This  deplorably  unequal  admixture  of  two  impor- 
tant factors, which  should  each  in  full-grown  strength 
support  and  sustain  the  other  as  fit  helpmates  in  the 
artistic  purpose,  causes  sooner  or  later  a  self-assert- 
iveness  in  musical  characteristics  which  is  more  dis- 
gusting than  the  grossest  ignorance. 

An  artist  whose  facility  in  architectonic  drawing 
is  of  an  acknowledged  superiority  could  just  as  soon 
claim  equal  consideration  in  portrait-painting  with 
one  of  the  masters  in  that  branch  of  art  as  the  pian- 
ist who  is  great  in  the  use  of  his  instrument,  com- 
manding all  the  finish  and  grace  of  an  individual 
style,  can  compare  himself  to  the  pianist  whose 
power  lies  in  the  truth  of  his  reproduction,  however 
limited  the  latter's  versatility.  Straight  and  curved 
lines,  the  well  adjusted  proportions  and  a  reposeful 
perspective  in  architectonic  drawing  may  form  a 
highly  artistic  product  in  that  genre — the  portrayer 
requires  the  thorough  artistic  knowledge  and  com- 
mand of  color-effect  and,  above  all,  that  higher 
artistic  quality,  the  trusty  expression  which,  a  result  of 
comparative  analysis,  is  finally  caught  on  the  wings 
of  inspiration. 

As  in  ordinary  life  progress  can  only  be  made  by 


78  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

the  individual,  in  any  direction,  on  the  strength  of 
observation,  so  in  art  the  student  advances  on  the 
basis  of  former  acquisitions.  The  pianist  must  take 
pattern  after  other  pianists  in  the  cunning  of  his 
craft — his  artistic  ideal  he  can  only  find  in  the  com- 
poser's art,  i.  e.,  in  the  full  measure  of  all  the  artistic 
properties  of  standard  compositions.  To  fully  rec- 
ognize the  import  of  all  the  details  which  make  up 
the  life-giving,  characteristic  qualities  of  a  composi- 
tion, the  student  must  not  only  acquire  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  rudimentary  elements  of  musical 
technic  (particularly  those  of  more  indeterminate 
quantity,  as  the  various  gradations  of  tone  and  the 
modifications  of  speed),  he  must  command  them 
with  good  ability,  learn  to  properly  grade  them  in 
their  effect  and  apply  them  correctly  in  reproduc- 
tion. A  continued  intercourse  with  the  musical 
qualities  of  works  of  standard  merit  will  serve  to 
strengthen  the  student's  artistic  purpose,  will  in  time 
develop  his  individuality  in  an  artistic  manner,  and 
subsequently  enable  the  pianist  to  give  a  more  satis- 
factory abstract  of  the  composer's  consummate  art 
should  he  even  f  lil  to  give  a  reading  which  is  hon- 
est and  truthful  to  the  last  letter. 

The  composer's  ideal  in  the  full  measure  of  well- 
balanced  artistic  qualifications  must  be  the  final 
purpose  of  the  performer;  and  to  make  genuine  prog- 
ress toward  an  artistic  realization  of  this  object, 
the  student  must  learn  from  the  outset  to  sacrifice 
his  own  natural  inclination  to  the  master's  thought, 
his  veracity  must  strive  to  become  equal  to  the  mas- 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  79 

ter's  truth,  his  honesty  to  the  composer's  sincerity 
until,  always  closely  observant  of  the  characteristic 
musical  qualities  of  the  work,  he  finds  in  true  devo- 
tion to  the  art  and  guileless  self-abnegation  the  key 
to  the  meaning  which  enhances  the  artistic  value 
and  is  ever  a  source  of  the  purest  enjoyment. 

That  it  is  possible  to  give  truly  characteristic  read- 
ings to  the  master-works  of  piano  literature  has  been 
sufficiently  demonstrated  by  a  number  of  pianists. 
The  names  of  such  artists  as  Liszt,  Mendelssohn, 
Clara  Schumann,  Reinecke  and  Rubinstein,  have  a 
better  sound  in  the  musical  world,  not  because  these 
coryphees  of  reproductive  art  have  greater  tech- 
nical facility  or  greater  intensity  of  feeling,  nor  yet 
a  more  pronounced  individual  style,  but  because 
they  have  employed  their  superior  individual  gifts 
in  a  thoroughly  unselfish  and  unartificial  manner  in 
the  higher  service  of  musical  art,  and  the  truthful 
reproduction  of  the  composer's  ideal  has  given  their 
readings  the  plenary  power  of  genuine  artistic  con- 
victions. This  spirit  of  resignation  acknowledging 
the  higher  claim  of  the  composer's  creative  art  in  a 
sort  of  ideal  copyright  does  not  exclude  artistic  in- 
dividuality, or  warmth  of  expression  in  reproduc- 
tion; the  intellectual  and  emotional  qualities  which, 
subject  to  a  more  or  less  refined  taste  and  judgment, 
are  usually  employed  with  individual  freedom,  are 
thus  made  subservient  to  the  purer  characteristic 
essence  of  the  work  of  art,  regulated  according  to 
more  mature  and  refined  artistic  principles  and  ele- 
vated to  a  higher  and  wider  sphere. 


8o  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

That  character  in  musical  art — and  more  es- 
pecially in  piano  music,  which  in  the  larger  number 
and  greater  variety  of  its  master-works  can  easily 
claim  superiority— is  a  decidedly  more  valuable  ar- 
tistic faculty  than  the  performances  of  pianists  gen- 
erally warrant  and  that  an  implicitly  correct  reading 
in  piano  music  will  materially  improve  the  more 
refined  artistic  qualities  in  reproduction  is  undenia- 
ble. An  able  conductor  who,  personally  unham- 
pered by  the  requirements  of  executive  skill, 
supervises  and  enforces  the  correct  reading  and 
execution,  is  likely  to  give  a  decidedly  more  char- 
acteristic reading  to  a  symphony  than  the  large 
majority  of  pianists  give  to  a  sonata,  though  in 
point  of  individual  charm  and  conventional  grace 
the  latter  may  gain  over  the  large  body  of  the  or- 
chestra. 

The  greater  the  pianist's  ability,  the  stronger  his 
individual  faculties,  the  more  does  he  often  seem  to 
seek  completer  power  of  expression  in  the  changed 
and  even  mutilated  artistic  properties  of  a  compo- 
sition. While  in  works  of  less  marked  musical 
merit — serving  pre-eminently  as  expositions  of  pian- 
istic  skill — a  large  margin  may  be  conceded  to  the 
performer,  all  unwarranted  liberties  fail  utterly  to 
improve  the  inner  value  in  works  of  a  higher  order, 
appear  as  frivolous  license  in  art,  and  lack  the  power 
of  convincing  truth  in  their  effect  on  the  hearer. 
The  more  artistic  individuality  finds  the  source  and 
measure  of  expression  in  the  composer's  art,  the 
more  varied,  rich  and  impressive  will  be  the  power 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  81 

of  inner  life.  Herein  lies  the  secret  of  Rubinstein's 
undisputed  artistic  superiority  that,  despite  his  pow- 
erful individuality,  the  composer's  art  shapes  the 
manner  or  his  reading;  that,  though  he  neither  plays 
Bach  and  Beethoven  dry-as-dust,  nor  the  visionary 
Schumann  like  the  erratic  Chopin,  the  character  of 
the  composition  and  the  composer's  style  find  gen- 
erally an  unselfish  consideration. 

Though  the  musical  qualifications  of  a  composi- 
tion are  clearly  and  unmistakably  defined  by  the 
author,  the  particular  grade  and  shade  will  neces- 
sarily vary  in  different  players — an  increased  speed 
may  even  serve  in  an  allegro  or  presto,  and  an 
adagio  may  cause  one  player  to  linger  more  than 
another;  special  restrictions  for  unvaried,  typical 
gradations  in  piano  and  forte,  crescendo  or  dimin- 
uendo, ritardando  or  accelerando  could  never  be 
thought  of — such  tinge  of  individuality,  which  is 
perfectly  natural,  will  never  affect  the  character  of 
the  work  as  long  as  the  artistic  qualifications  of  the 
composition  remain  unchanged  in  their  relations  to 
each  other. 

The  individual  gifts  of  the  pianist,  his  intellect- 
ual ability,  the  life-current  of  his  emotions,  his 
physical  power  and  his  skill  will  at  all  times  deter- 
mine the  artistic  potentiality,  but  an  adequate  resig- 
nation in  the  higher  authority  of  the  composer's 
creative  art  will  more  fully  reflect  the  truth  and 
beauty  of  the  composer's  ideal  and  will  clearly 
demonstrate  the  weakness  of  thoughtless  presump- 


82  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

tion  which  changes  the  characteristic  traits  of  a 
composition  to  suit  individual  taste  and  liking. 

Is  it  right  that  Schumann's  Des  Abends — molto 
affettuoso,  so  full  of  romantic  dreaminess  and  art- 
less sentiment — should  serve  to  show  some  pianist's 
speed  and  finish  of  execution,  that  another  should 
deliberately  substitute  a  forte  for  a  piano  or  turn  an 
appassionato  con  forza  into  a  delicate  pianissimo, 
another  (carelessly  or  intentionally)  change  the 
rhythm,  perhaps  even  mutilate  the  meter?  What  if 
a  pianist  who  plays  the  opening  phrases  of  Liszt's 
E  Major  Polonaise  with  full  tone  and  commanding 
rhythm,  suddenly  changes  to  a  dull  mezzoforte  in 
the  grand  climax  at  the  end  of  the  first  part,  though 
the  richer  harmonious  construction  and  high- 
spirited  rhythm  call  for  increased  power  and  greater 
insistence;  yet,  even  if  he  does  not  feel  the  need  of 
more  unrelenting  energy  in  action,  Liszt  marked 
the  passage  rinforzando.  Does  it  not  appear  as 
though  indefatigable  practice  of  the  difficult  passage 
had  deprived  the  artist's  conception  of  some  valua- 
ble spark  of  life? 

Are  the  performers  alone  to  blame  for  this  if  a 
reading  which  changes  and  mutilates  the  well- 
balanced  and  clearly  defined  artistic  proportions  of 
a  work  is  often  hailed  with  enthusiasm  by  so-called 
musicians  as  a  new  departure  in  art?  Truly  an 
easy  and  welcome  opportunity  for  some  small 
lights  to  make  evident  their  fondness  for  "  new 
ideas  "  and  to  manifest  their  belief  in  the  progress- 
iveness  of  music  as  an  art.  Some  venturesome 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  83 

critics  even  assert  that  every  performer  has  a  right 
to  do  as  he  pleases  in  the  details  of  a  composition 
and  that  in  this  manner  only,  freed  from  slavish 
dependence  on  the  composer,  musical  genius  can 
manifest  its  artistic  individuality! 

The  public,  whether  high-toned  or  low-bred,  has 
no  artistic  musical  knowledge;  the  large  class  of 
music-lovers  and  amateurs  easily  forms  an  opinion 
of  the  player's  executive  powers  and,  if  it  approves 
of  the  artist's  good  taste,  delights  in  a  gentle  way  in 
the  usual  platitudes,  while — with  limited  exceptions 
— the  host  of  musical  critics,  often  recruited  from 
the  ranks  of  amateurs,  is  equally  unable  to  say 
exactly  in  what  proportion  the  reading  stands  to 
the  details  of  the  composer's  work  and  its  character. 
Such  knowledge  is,  and  always  mast  be,  vested  in 
the  practical  musician  who  has  made  a  detailed 
study  of  the  work  in  question,  while  amateurs  and  a 
certain  class  of  critics  will  base  their  opinion  gen- 
erally on  a  quality  of  taste  which,  though  often 
very  refined,  is  purely  individual. 

A  minority  of  musical  connoisseurs,  constantly 
increasing  for  years  past,  has  come  to  acknowledge 
that  in  Beethoven  the  sum  total  only  of  all  the 
details  (and  Beethoven  has  been  able  to  outline 
some  very  striking  peculiarities  in  his  works)  will 
give  a  true  representation  of  the  sublime  character; 
the  distinction  of  being  a  Beethoven-player  is,  there- 
fore, conferred  only  on  the  strength  of  an  adequate 
reading  of  the  master's  works  in  all  their  character- 
istic properties.  The  later  masters,  more  especially 


84  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

Chopin  and  Schumann,  have  developed  a  concise- 
ness in  the  details  of  musical  notation,  which  is  even 
superior  to  Beethoven's,  and  has  since  become  thor- 
oughly scientific.  In  enforcing  the  strict  observa- 
tion of  all  the  details  the  composers,  late  and  early 
ones,  do  not  claim  an  artistic  privilege  but  the  ideal 
birthright  of  their  children  in  art. 

If  it  can  not  be  denied  that  light  and  shade  in 
musical  art  are  the  outgrowth  of  artistic  formation, 
that  they  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  meaning  and 
effect  of  a  musical  sentence,  why  should  the  pianist 
who  copies  the  composer's  notes,  rhythms,  har- 
mony and  melody  stop  short  of  including  the 
dynamics  and  agogics  of  the  composer's  notation,  in 
short  every  detail  as  far  as  he  is  able,  asserting  his 
own  artistic  individuality  in  the  special  mode  and 
manner  only  of  a  perfectly  truthful  rendition.  True, 
the  pianist  is  not  a  copyist,  but  in  his  reading  and 
reproduction  of  a  musical  work  he  can  not  disregard 
the  laws  of  musical  art  nor  rise  superior  to  them  on 
a  claim  of  pianistic  excellence;  and  if  the  artistic 
merit  of  a  composition  is  due  to  the  unifying  inner 
principle  which  gives  all  the  details  their  higher 
qualification,  a  marked  change  in  these  same  details 
to  suit  individual  fancy  will  at  all  times  deteriorate 
the  musical  value  of  the  performance. 

Two  of  the  most  prominent  pianists  of  the  pres- 
ent day  may  be  quoted  as  striking  examples:  the 
one  perfected  in  the  most  ambitious  display  of  an 
individual  style,  the  other  resplendent  in  the  ideal 
representation  of  an  artistic  beauty  as  conceived  by 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  85 

the  composer.  From  a  pianistic  standpoint  the 
great  Chopin  player  is  the  superior  in  the  lightning 
speed,  finish  of  execution  and  graceful  elegance, 
admirable  and  even  incomparable  wherever  the 
latent  power  of  higher  artistic  formation  is  not 
indispensable  in  reproduction,  wherever  ideal  beauty 
does  not  hold  immutable  relations  to  an  ideal  truth, 
as  in  all  the  lighter  forms  of  the  dance  and  etude; 
yet  in  all  the  glory  of  his  artistic  powers,  how  seldom 
does  he  rise  to  the  higher  requirements  of  those 
works  where  the  effect  of  light  and  shade  grows  out 
of  the  affluence  of  artistic  shapeliness,  where  an 
ideal  truth  enhances  the  value  of  ideal  beauty!  Is 
it  because  he  fails  in  power  or  delicacy,  in  grace  or 
warmth  of  expression?  All  these  are  his  in  full 
measure  —  what  he  lacks  in  physical  strength  he 
fully  makes  up  in  the  wonderful  gradations  of  his 
touch — but,  thoroughly  capricious  in  everything,  he 
puts  forth  all  the  selfishness  of  his  nature  in  vain- 
glorious presumption,  conferring,  as  it  must  appear 
to  the  initiated,  an  honorable  distinction  on  the 
author  Chopin  by  "  ameliorating"  his  compositions! 
Let  us  turn  to  the  other — in  the  rapidity  of  exe- 
cution scarcely  in  the  front  rank  of  living  pianists, 
yet  superior  in  the  versatility  of  his  craft — fairly 
enthralling  his  hearers  in  more  than  the  average  of 
his  readings  through  the  power  and  truth  of  his  con- 
victions, equa-lly  great  in  large  and  small  efforts, 
often  manifesting  a  ready  trustiness  in  reproduction 
unheard  of  since  Rubinstein,  he  is  sometimes  more, 
sometimes  less  successful,  but  never  fails  when 


86  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

guided  by  the  light  of  that  truth  which  never  fades 
although  forever  varied  in  the  author's  vision  of 
ideal  beauty. 

The  musical  public  is  carried  away  by  the  wealth 
of  expression,  by  the  ever  increasing  power  of  per- 
suasion in  his  very  touch,  by  the  constantly  changing 
adaptability  of  his  execution;  the  critical  world 
emphasizes  his  richly  endowed  temperament,  his 
admirable  disposition,  finds  the  source  and  strength 
of  his  art  in  the  singing  quality  of  his  touch,  in  the 
unequaled  versatility  of  his  craft,  in  his  Protean 
artistic  nature  and  in  all  the  eulogies  and  encomiums 
never  fails  to  throw  some  new  light  on  the  astonish- 
ing quality  and  merit  of  an  art  which  seems  in  very 
truth  at  times  almost  infinite. 

An  artist  of  his  type  is  to  be  judged  only  by  the 
power  of  creative  art  which  has  led  him  to  the 
full  measure  of  all  his  excellent  artistic  qualifica- 
tions through  his  devotion  to  the  composer's  crea- 
tive power.  Whenever  he  strives  faithfully  to  repro- 
duce the  composer's  ideal  out  of  the  fullness  of 
original  artistic  conception,  giving  unreservedly  the 
sum  total  of  all  the  properties  which  qualify  the 
higher  artistic  merit,  he  carries  conviction  with  him 
into  the  hearts  of  his  listeners  and,  though  the  par- 
ticular quality  of  effect  is  unmistakably  individual, 
the  ideal  character  of  the  work  in  all  its  truth  and 
beauty  gives  his  reading  the  honorable  worthiness 
and  superior  power. 

Human  nature  will  always  cause  more  or  less 
serious  shortcomings  in  the  performances  of  the 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  87 

best  artists,  so  that  an  ideal  perfection  will  never 
be  attained;  but,  if  it  is  unavoidable  to  reckon  with 
many  deficiencies  in  even  the  most  artistic  readings, 
it  is  the  more  desirable  that  in  artistic  training 
no  concessions  should  be  made  to  the  natural  drift 
of  the  student's  fancy;  that,  on  the  contrary,  the 
higher  ideal  character  in  music  is  called  into  requisi- 
tion continually  to  strengthen  and  elevate  the  artistic 
purpose. 

There  seems  to  be  an  opinion  that  the  pianist  of 
to-day  has  to  adapt  himself  to  such  numbers  and 
varieties  of  composers  and  compositions  that  it  is 
not  surprising  that  as  a  class  they  fail  to  give  char- 
acteristic readings,  and  that  for  that  same  reason  the 
number  of  successful  interpreters  is  very  limited,  that 
few  players  succeed  in  giving  adequate  performances 
to  any  one  composer,  and  that  hardly  one  is  found 
who  can  fully  accommodate  his  artistic  faculties 
to  more  than  one  of  the  masters.  Though  it  is  true 
that  with  every  new  decade  the  demands  on  the 
pianist's  musical  qualifications  are  becoming  of  a 
higher  order,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  artist's  pow- 
ers increase  in  the  same  degree  as  he  devotes  him- 
self unselfishly  to  find  the  author's  true  ideal  in  the 
outlines  of  the  work,  giving  an  interpretation  faith- 
ful and  loyal  in  the  smallest  details  and,  according 
to  his  artistic  potentiality,  truly  characteristic. 

Character  in  art  represents  the  unifying  principle 
which  gives  every  detail  of  a  work  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  artistic  qualification;  character  in 
reproduction  is  an  established  fact  always  potent, 


88  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

always  latent,  while  musical  talent  in  the  individual 
may  at  one  time  be  strong,  at  another  weak;  char- 
acter possesses  intellectual  and  emotional  qualifica- 
tions which  are  pure  and  true,  while  these  qualities 
in  the  individual  may  be  tarnished  by  selfish  motives. 
Character  is  a  power  which  in  the  end  will  vanquish 
the  best  talent,  for,  while  the  bounds  of  talent  are 
the — sometimes  narrow — limits  of  an  artistic  indi- 
viduality, there  is  no  end  to  the  growth  of  character 
as  there  is  no  end  of  learning  in  art. 


OUTLINE  OF  PIANO  LITERATURE. 


IN  the  development  of  piano  music,  the  nature  of  the 
instrument,  the  quality  of  its  tone  and  its  tech- 
nical facilities  have  at  all  times  had  a  predominating 
influence,  and,  closely  connected  with  gradual  im- 
provements in  the  mechanical  construction  and  the 
growth  of  technical  resources,  a  style  of  composition 
has,  in  course  of  time,  been  matured  which  is  pecul- 
iarly adapted  to  the  piano.  Though  the  tone  of 
the  instrument  is  naturally  short  and  metallic,  and 
its  chief  characteristic  the  diminuendo,  so  that  even 
with  the  use  of  the  pedal  the  sound  can  be  but 
slightly  and  imperfectly  sustained,  the  possibilities 
offered  for  full  harmonies,  the  rich  ornamentation 
in  melody,  the  great  variety  and  superior  brilliancy 
in  passages  and  a  wide  range  for  contrasting  effects 
gave  it  early  a  firm  hold  in  the  estimation  of  mu- 
sicians and  amateurs. 

The  old  clavichord  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  had  originally  twenty-two  keys,  to  which,  in 
about  1500,  chromatic  tones  were  added.  The  in- 
strument named  clavecin,  harpsichord,  virginal,  clav- 
icymbal,  etc.,  was  subsequently  enlarged  to  four 
octaves — forty-nine  keys — and  near  the  eighteenth 

89 


9O  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

century  separate  strings  were  introduced  for  each 
key.  Constant  and  far-reaching  improvements  con- 
tinued to  increase  its  practical  usefulness  so  that,  as 
a  means  for  musical  reproduction  independent  of 
assistance,  it  soon  gained  a  decided  preponderance 
over  all  other  instruments. 

Few  of  the  great  masters  of  musical  art,  from  the 
earliest  times  to  the  present  day,  have  failed  to  con- 
tribute their  share  to  make  piano  literature  the  most 
extensive,  most  versatile  and  precious.  Material 
difference  or  marked  improvement  may  not  be 
clearly  apparent  in  some  works  of  the  same  period, 
yet  something  new  will  be  found  now  and  then,  a 
small  germ  which  bides  its  day  of  exuberant  growth 
until  the  spirit  of  the  times  causes  man's  superior 
effort  to  assert  his  powers;  and  genius  assimilates 
and  perfects  what  has  been  prepared  by  years  of 
toil  and  labor. 

Instrumental  music  shows  at  first  a  marked  re- 
semblance to  vocal  music;  and  piano  literature  in  its 
early  development  is  virtually  of  the  same  type  as 
organ  music,  finding  its  highest  exponents  in  J.  S. 
Bach  and  G.  F.  Haendel.  Ph.  Em.  Bach  leaves  this 
severe  style  and  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  era 
in  piano  music  by  melodious  forms  and  passages 
which  are  more  adapted  to  the  piano.  This  mode 
of  writing,  distinctly  different  from  the  serene  and 
unconventional  style  of  organ  music  followed  by 
Haydn  and  Mozart,  is  matured  by  dementi  and 
Beethoven.  The  latter  in  his  later  works  opens  the 
third  epoch  of  piano  music  which  finds  its  culminat- 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART.  QI 

ing  point  in  Schumann  and  Chopin,  and  this  last 
again  stands  on  the  threshold  of  the  fourth  and  last 
period,  introducing  a  distinctly  national  element  in 
instrumental  music. 

Vocal  music  had  attained  considerable  merit  in 
the  service  of  the  church  as  early  as  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  under  the  Italian  masters  it  acquired  a 
style  of  exceptional  grandeur  and  beauty.  Instru- 
mental music  received,  naturally,  but  slight  atten- 
tion; only  the  organ,  closely  connected  with  church 
service,  claimed  some  consideration  as  the  accom- 
panying instrument,  and  the  first  attempts  in  organ 
music  probably  consisted  in  an  exact  reproduction 
of  vocal  parts,  ornamented  according  to  the  whim 
and  ability  of  the  player.  These  ornaments  devel- 
oped into  typical  figures  (trills,  scale-like  passages 
and  arpeggios),  and  were  brought  into  some  con- 
nection with  the  melody  and  harmony,  so  that  about 
1600  A.  D.  organ  compositions,  as  systematically 
arranged  works,  took  definite  form. 

Music  as  a  factor  in  home  life  had  probably  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  rendering  the  melody  in  vocal 
compositions  viva  voce,  while  the  other  parts  were 
given  to  an  accompanying  instrument;  and  when  the 
first  efforts  for  a  musical  drama  were  made  about 
this  time,  monody,  the  great  innovation  in  musical 
composition,  as  the  outgrowth  and  embodiment  of 
individual  expression  was  received  with  no  small 
favor  by  the  interested  world.  Greater  independ- 
ence and  adaptability  in  the  accompaniment  were 
the  immediate  consequences,  and  the  introduction 


92  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

to  the  musical  plays,  the  toccata,  marks  the  begin- 
ning of  secular  instrumental  music. 

Folk  song  and  ballads,  the  first  evidence  of  mu- 
sical life,  are  the  products  of  strong  emotions  and 
natural  artistic  instincts;  music  as  an  art  is  based  on 
the  songs  and  dances  of  the  people,  and  musical  art 
gains  in  value  and  importance  the  more  it  leaves  the 
beaten  path  without  losing  connection  with  the 
natural  element.  The  dances  and  variations  on  pop- 
ular melodies  for  the  clavichord  and  virginal,  though 
less  severe  than  the  organ  compositions,  follow  the 
same  style  in  the  reproduction  of  several  equally 
important  parts  as  in  vocal  music;  and  though  by 
imitation,  by  embellishments  in  melody,  and  figura- 
tion in  scales  and  arpeggios,  elements  are  intro- 
duced more  typically  instrumental,  the  strict  adher- 
ence to  an  equal  deduction  of  the  several  parts  can 
easily  be  traced. 

The  early  masters  show  little  individual  differ- 
ence in  their  writings;  their  forms  evince  a  certain 
stiffness  in  the  material,  the  evidence  of  hard  men- 
tal labor,  which  disappears  only  when  technic,  by 
force  of  habit,  acquires  sufficient  routine.  As  the 
serene  dignity  which  characterized  church  composi- 
tions (and  for  which  the  organ  was  the  proper  in- 
strument) was  more  and  more  abandoned  in  secular 
music,  the  clavecin,  and  later  on  the  pianoforte, 
offered  greater  possibilities  for  a  display  in  various 
manners  of  touch,  and  obtained  a  versatility  of  ex- 
pression to  which  the  organ  could  never  attain.  ( 
tain  forms  of  expression  were  speedily  developed 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  93 

and  held  some  influence  for  a  time,  to  make  room 
again  for  others;  and,  within  these  changing  idioms, 
individual  ideas  and  feelings  found  utterance  and 
created  characteristic  works  of  more  or  less  artistic 
merit. 

William  Byrde  (1546-1623),  John  Bull  (1563- 
1628)  and  Orlando  Gibbons  (1583-1625)  in  England 
are  among  the  first  noted  composers  for  the  clavi- 
chord. Girolamo  Frescobaldi  ( 1 588-1654)  and  Mich- 
ael Angelo  Rossi  (1600-1660)  in  Italy;  Joh.  Jacob 
Frohberger  (1635-1695)  and  Johann  Kuhnau  (1667- 
1712)  in  Germany;  Henry  Dumont  (1610-1684)  and 
Jacques  Champion  (1620-1670)  in  France,  were  in 
high  repute  both  as  composers  and  performers. 
Their  compositions  were  published  sometimes  as 
"  opera  de  cantare  ed  sonare,"  more  often,  however,  as 
u per  organo  e  cembalo;"  and  the  composer's  reputa- 
tion was  due  mainly  to  his  ability  as  an  organist  and  his 
efforts  and  success  in  choral  works.  England's  mu- 
sicians had  long  enjoyed  a  high  proficiency  in  vocal 
music.  As  the  high  literary  and  artistic  standard 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  time  had  great  influence  on  the 
social  and  private  enjoyments  of  polite  society,  the 
number  of  good  performers  on  the  virginal  in  those 
days  accounts  partly  for  the  greater  efforts  and  ear- 
lier success  of  the  English  composers. 

The  necessity  of  contrasting  effects  in  instru- 
mental music  found  early  recognition  among  the  com- 
posers for  the  clavier.  For  greater  variety  in 
movement,  the  smaller  pieces  in  dance  form  were 
joined  together  in  the  suite  and  partita,  and  though 


94  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

the  succession  of  pieces  was  not  always  the  same,  a 
distinct  change  in  the  character  of  the  successive 
numbers  formed  the  basis  for  this  arrangement.  A 
richer  display  in  ornaments  and  passages  continued 
to  give  these  compositions  a  style  more  and  more 
instrumental,  but  the  inner  character  of  the  works 
was  still  markedly  akin  to  vocal  music.  The  dances 
appeared  somewhat  idealized,  but  had  no  connection 
with  each  other  and  a  number  of  movements  in  the 
same  key  did  not  offer  the  marked  characteristics  of 
a  change  in  tonality;  yet  pieces  of  the  simplest  con- 
struction offered  at  times  beautiful  melodious  effects 
combined  with  real  sentiment. 

The  rondeau,  a  form  of  construction  in  poetry 
which  repeated  a  phrase  of  complex  meaning  at  the 
end  of  each  separate  division,  was  introduced  into 
vocal  music  in  early  times,  and  imitated  in  instru- 
mental music  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
i66&-Pi73s!  century.  Francois  Couperin  (1668-1733)  gave  this 
form  a  more  definite  instrumental  character.  A 
short  theme  of  melodious  form,  generally  eight 
measures,  which  he  designated  as  "  rondeau,"  is  fol- 
lowed by  one  or  more  "couplets"  of  a  livelier  char- 
acter, so  that  after  each  couplet  the  rondeau  recurs; 
the  couplets  are  generally  richer  in  harmony  and 
passages.  Couperin  is  the  first  who  develops  in  his 
compositions  a  character  somewhat  adapted  to  the 
clavecin,  and  even  where,  like  his  contemporaries, 
he  cultivates  the  dance,  his  harmonrcs  are  arranged 
more  suitably  to  the  peculiar  tone  and  range  of  the 
instrument;  his  passages  show  a  superior  subtleness, 


THE   PIANIST  S   ART.  95 

the  embellishments  of  his  melodies  appear  as  the 
outgrowth  of  feeling  more  than  casual  ornaments 
and  are  employed,  especially  in  the  reprises,  with 
greater  effect.  The  marked  originality  of  his  works, 
as  compared  to  others  of  his  time,  and  his  style  of 
playing,  which  appealed  to  his  hearers  by  a  soulful 
expression  and  refined  taste,  insured  him  a  high 
reputation  in  his  lifetime  even  outside  of  his  own 
country. 

J.  Ph.  Rameau  (1683-1764),  in  the  originality  of 
invention  and  novelty  of  style,  proves  himself  the 
peer  of  Couperin,  while  greater  rhythmic  variety  and 
a  richer  display  in  harmony  and  modulation  gave 
him  at  times  moments  of  greater  energy. 

Johann  Kuhnan  is  said  to  be  the  first  composer 
of  a  sonata  for  the  clavichord.  His  compositions 
are  remarkable  for  their  romantic  spirit,  and  as  ideal 
tone  pictures  are  important  in  the  development  of 
musical  expression.  The  sonata,  as  a  work  in  differ- 
ent parts,  accomplished  variety  much  in  the  manner 
of  the  suite  by  an  interchange  of  slow  and  lively 
movements;  the  succession  of  these,  however,  was 
arbitrary  as  in  the  suite.  Sonatas  were  written  in 
one,  two  or  three  movements,  and  often  served  fora 
greater  display  of  technical  facility.  Little  distinc- 
tion was  at  times  made  between  suite,  partita  or 
sonata,  and  either  of  them  was  often  specified  as  a 
"sonata  di  camera"  yet  the  suite  was  supposed  to  con- 
tain a  series  of  dances  (while  the  partita  admitted 
pieces  of  a  better  character),  and  the  sonata  to  hold 


96  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

movements  only  of  more   universal  tendency  and 
expression. 

The  contrasts  effected  in  the  different  parts  of 
one  movement  in  the  rondeau  gave  little  organic 
connection  save  in  the  regular  repetition  of  the  round 
after  each  couplet.  The  motette,  a  style  of  vocal 
composition  in  two  or  three  parts,  had  as  early  as 
the  fifteenth  century  offered  a  contrast  by  present- 
ing its  several  parts  in  a  peculiar  manner;  sometimes 
with  the  same  cantus  firmus  for  all  the  parts,  while 
the  counterpoint  changed  character  in  each  division 
and  so  accomplished  a  better  connection,  giving  at 
the  same  time  opportunity  for  individual  expression. 
Scarlatti  Domenico  Scarlatti  (1683-1757)  began  in  his  sonata 
1683-1757.  movements  to  contrast  the  different  parts  after  the 
manner  of  the  motette,  not  only  in  outward  appear- 
ance, but  in  their  inner  nature.  The  first  part  of  the 
movement  presented  in  an  animated  flow  a. dialectic 
exposition  of  the  theme  in  the  keynote  or  tonica, 
which  was  followed  by  a  more  expressive  theme  of 
cantabile  character  in  the  dominant;  the  themes  or 
their  motives  were  then  worked  together,  and  the 
whole  movement  closed  with  a  more  or  less  free 
repetition  of  the  first  part.  Thus  the  movement 
gained  not  only  greater  consistency  in  the  co-relation 
and  cohesion  of  the  parts,  but  also  greater  variety  of 
expression.  Scarlatti's  compositions,  even  more 
than  Couperin's  or  Rameau's,  show  a  marked  prog- 
ress; the  instrumental  style  gains  more  distinction; 
polyphonic  treatment  begins  to  make  room  for  a 
development  in  two  parts;  the  treble  gains  in 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  97 

importance  over  the  bass,  and  the  technical  display 
is,  in  some  peculiarities,  of  lasting  merit  so  that  even 
at  the  present  day  the  difficulties  introduced  in 
Scarlatti's  works,  seemingly  in  playful  humor,  are 
considered  important  in  the  pianist's  education. 

The  fame  of  writers  for  the  clavier  contemporary 
with  Couperin,  Rameau  and  Scarlatti — such  as  John 
Blow  (1648-1708)  and  Henry  Purcell  (1658-1695)  in 
England;  Bernardo  Pasquini  (1637-1710),  Francesco 
Geminiani  (1680-1762),  Francesco  Durante  (1684- 
1755),  Nicolo  Porpora  (1685-1767)  and  Domenico 
Zipoli  (1685-17 — )  in  Italy;  Giovanni  Battista  Lully 
(1633-1687)  and  Jean  Baptiste  Loeillet  (1660-1728) 
in  France,  and  Johann  Caspar  von  Kerl  (1625-1690), 
Gottlieb  Muffat  (1650-1700),  Johann  Matheson  (1681- 
1722)  and  Christoph  Wagenseil  (1688-1779)  in  Ger- 
many— rests  mainly  on  their  efforts  in  other  direc- 
tions. Their  compositions  for  the  clavecin  evince 
more  or  less  pronounced  individuality  of  expression, 
and  offer  an  interesting  study  of  the  musical  spirit 
of  the  times,  while,  written  in  the  established  forms, 
they  present  no  particular  feature  of  importance  in 
the  progress  of  piano  music. 

As  the  greatest  representative  of  this  first  period 
of  piano  music  appears  Johann  Sebastian  Bach 
(1685-1750).  Born  in  Eisenach  as  the  descendant 
of  a  family  of  musicians  of  great  ability  and  fame, 
he  was  at  an  early  age  left  to  support  himself.  A 
beautiful  voice,  remarkable  proficiency  as  performer 
on  the  organ  and  clavichord  and  general  musical 
adaptability  served  him  in  good  stead.  The  artistic 


98  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

inclinations  of  the  ten  generations  that  seemed  cen- 
tered in  his  person  were  developed  during  a  quiet 
student  life,  great  power  of  observation  and  never- 
tiring  energy  serving  him  as  teachers.  Violinist  in 
Weimar,  he  becomes,  after  a  few  months,  organist  in 
Arnstadt;  four  years  later  he  is  in  the  same  capacity 
in  Miilhausen,  and,  1708,  court  organist  in  Weimar. 
Here  he  remained  for  nine  years,  and  it  was  in  these 
years  that  his  organ  playing  made  him  famous  over 
all  his  contemporaries;  he  became  concert  master  in 
1714,  and  conducted  for  a  time  the  church  and  cham- 
ber concerts.  Removed  to  Coethen,  1717,  as  court 
conductor  he  made  himself  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  instrumental  compositions  of  the  different 
schools,  and  is  said  to  have  here  written  the  first 
part  of  his  Well  Tempered  Clavecin.  Seventeen 
hundred  and  twenty-three,  elected  cantor  of  the 
Thomas  school  in  Leipzig  as  the  successor  of  Jo- 
hann  Kuhnau,  he  soon  became  the  center  of  musical 
life,  and  gained  an  all-powerful  influence  in  the 
musical  affairs  of  Leipzig,  which  he  retained  until 
his  death,  1750. 

Bach  was  a  man  of  deep  religious  sentiment  and 
quiet  dignity  of  manner,  his  nature  full  of  life  and 
passion;  his  character  had  a  certain  sternness,  the 
evidence  of  a  fixed  purpose  and  firm  determination, 
and  his  works  show  a  powerful  emotion,  which  is 
held  in  check  only  by  the  severity  of  form.  An 
extraordinary  combination  of  superior  intellectual 
powers  and  depth  of  feeling,  with  a  strongly  pro- 
nounced and  powerful  individuality,  enabled  him  to 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  99 

absorb  the  most  various  forms  and  idioms  of  other 
composers  and  remodel  them  in  his  own  original 
manner.  The  clearness  of  his  intellect  is  plainly 
manifest  in  the  correctness  and  purity  of  his  style, 
and  the  energetic  constancy  which  enables  him  to 
attain  the  end  he  has  in  view.  A  long  line  of 
successful  pupils  prove  that  he  not  only  possessed 
the  patience  and  endurance  necessary  in  a  help- 
ful instructor,  but  the  unselfish  resignation  which 
makes  use  of  superior  knowledge  in  the  service 
of  the  untutored  and  weaker  intellect;  many  of  his 
best  piano  compositions  seem  to  have  been  written 
for  the  express  purpose  of  assisting  his  pupils, 
though  this  intention  is  only  clearly  discernible  In 
his  little  preludes  and  inventions. 

Strange  and  solitary  appears  Bach  alongside  of 
the  musicians  and  composers  of  his  time,  but  com- 
pared with  the  writers  of  the  preceding  period,  his 
art  seems  the  natural  development  of  the  earlier 
efforts.  His  superiority  over  his  predecessors  is  to 
be  found  mainly  in  the  universality  of  his  genius,  in 
virtue  of  which  he  appears  to  combine  in  himself  a 
higher  musical  potentiality  of  his  time.  A  composer 
of  the  highest  merit;  unsurpassed  as  organist  and 
pianist;  a  violinist  of  superior  technical  knowledge; 
a  loving  and  helpful  teacher  to  those  who  under- 
stood and  appreciated  him;  inventor  of  new  instru- 
ments, he  was  the  first  to  temper  the  tuning  of  the 
clavecin  so  that  it  could  be  played  in  any  key,  and 
he  introduced  a  finger  technic  which  is  the  founda- 
tion of  piano  playing  of  all  later  times,  and  with 


IOO  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

slight  modifications  the  law  even  for  the  present 
day. 

Bach's  name  is  connected  inseparably  with  the 
fugue,  and,  though  fugue-writing  is  by  no  means  his 
highest  and  foremost  merit,  it  is  undeniable  that  in 
the  instrumental  fugue  he  has  reached  the  culminat- 
ing point.  Fugue  as  well  as  canon  is  based  on  imi- 
tation, and,  while  the  imitation  in  the  canon  is  purely 
melodic,  that  of  the  fugue  is  governed  by  harmonic 
laws.  Fugues  have  been  written  before  Bach  (in 
fact  it  may  be  said  of  the  organists  of  northern 
Germany  about  the  beginning  of  the  i8th  century 
that  to  write  a  piece  of  music  was  to  write  a  fugue, 
and  in  point  of  technical  ability  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  nature  of  instrumental  music  some  of 
these  organ  fugues  have  hardly  been  surpassed  even 
by  Bach);  but  inasmuch  as  his  harmonic  construc- 
tion is  based  upon  the  strict  exposition  of  a  definite 
number  of  voices,  each  of  which  has  the  greatest 
freedom  of  motion,  he  has  perfected  the  form  and 
matured  the  instrumental  character. 

In  the  preludes  and  fugues  of  the  Well  Tempered 
Clavecin  (in  two  parts,  each  of  24  preludes  and 
fugues,  in  all  the  major  and  minor  keys)  Bach  con- 
trasts a  free  style  with  the  severe  form  and,  though 
the  preludes  seem  to  bring  mostly  light  motives  in 
playful  or  thoughtful  mood,  a  well  defined  ide'a  gov- 
erns the  easy  flow.  The  possibility  of  playing  on  the 
clavecin  in  all  the  keys  is  mainly  due  to  Bach's  gen- 
ius, and  this  work — the  Well  Tempered  Clavecin- 
seems  to  have  been  written  for  instructive  purposes, 


THE    PIANIST  S    ART.  101 

though  its  contents  are  musically  of  the  highest 
value  and  some  of  the  preludes  and  fugues  belong  to 
the  most  exquisite  products  of  musical  art.  Bach's 
fame  as  a  fugue-writer  rests  more  on  this  work  than 
on  his  larger  and  more  important  preludes  and 
fugues  for  the  organ,  a  large  number  of  which  have 
been  transcribed  for  the  piano. 

The  inventions,  pieces  of  the  smallest  form,  are 
in  their  way  the  most  curious  exposition  of  the 
great  man's  art.  Composed,  no  doubt,  with  the 
same  intention  which  caused  so  many  authors  of 
later  days  to  write  piano  studies  (of  little  or  no 
artistic  and  musical  merit),  they  are  new  and  orig- 
inal and  without  parallel  even  in  Bach's  wrorks,  con- 
structed on  thoroughly  artistic  principles,  concise 
and  clear  as  crystal,  and  born  in  the  spirit  of  a  warm- 
hearted musician.  The  three-part  inventions  are  of 
higher  artistic  merit,  and  range  in  difficulty  with 
some  of  the  fugues  of  the  Well  Tempered  Clavecin. 

Bach  composed  six  French  suites  (so  called  on 
account  of  their  smaller  form,  which  was  like  that  of 
the  suites  of  French  composers),  and  six  English 
suites  of  much  more  imposing  form,  and  six  partitas. 
After  the  manner  of  the  times,  many  of  the  pieces 
in  these  works  were  written  in  imitatory  and  even 
fugato  style,  but  the  clavier  character  appears  well 
pronounced;  pieces  of  droll  humor  or  deep  senti- 
ment, full  of  innocent  pleasure  or  tender  abandon, 
playful  mcod  or  ecstatic  joy,  give  an  ever  varied 
change  of  expression.  The  sonatas  present  but  little 
difference  from  the  suites,  except  inasmuch  as  the 


102  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

movements  are  of  a  more  severe  character,  often 
written  in  fugato  style;  a  trace  of  the  later  art  form 
of  the  sonata — as  in  Scarlatti — does  not  appear,  but 
Bach's  sonatas  are  certainly  the  highest  type  of 
the  old  form  and  the  six  sonatas  for  piano  and  violin 
are  undoubtedly  of  great  value.  In  the  concertos 
Bach  avails  himself  fully  of  the  opportunity  of  con- 
trasting tutti  and  solo  and  shows  a  remarkable  im- 
provement in  the  clavier  style  and  an  occasional 
beauty  of  sound;  written  for  an  immediate  effect 
their  musical  value  is  not  as  lasting  as  that  of  his 
other  works,  save  in  the  concertos  for  two  or  three 
claviers. 

The  Italian  concerto  has  a  most  beautiful  adagio, 
a  melody  full  of  infinite  tenderness  and  pathos, 
floating  and  soaring  over  the  simple  accompaniment; 
the  chromatique  fantasie  and  fugue  contrasts  un- 
limited artistic  freedom  in  form  and  expression  with 
the  severest  restrictions;  the  thirty  variations  bring 
in  the  forms  of  canons  a  series  of  tone  combinations 
founded  on  the  same  bass,  which  in  variety,  in  grace- 
ful design  as  well  as  in  the  exuberance  of  spirit  and 
depth  of  sentiment  are  unsurpassed,  and  his  Musical 
Offering  and  the  Art  of  the  Fugue,  as  specimens  of 
his  mastery  of  form  and  learning,  are  truly  monu- 
mental. 

As  there  is  no  known  art  form  of  his  time  which 
Bach  has  not  made  fully  his  own  and  given  to  art 
filled  with  the  fire  of  his  genius,  it  must  be  conceded 
that  Bach  is  a  universal  composer,  original  in  every 
branch  of  composition;  and,  if  the  objective  measure 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  103 

for  artistic  greatness  is  commensurate  to  the  power 
of  artistic  formation,  Bach  is  the  greatest  of  com- 
posers. 

Bach's  companion  figure  in  music  is  George 
Frederic  Haendel  (1685-1757).  Born  in  Halle  of  a 
family  of  trades-people,  his  strongly  pronounced 
musical  talent  grew  in  spite  of  opposition  and  ad- 
verse circumstances.  Organist  in  Halle  in  1702,  he 
removed  1703  to  Hamburg,  where  in  time  he  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of  Teleman  and  Matheson,  and  be- 
came closely  connected  with  German  opera.  A 
famous  organist  and  cembalist,  he  met  Dom.  Scar- 
latti on  his  visit  to  Italy  (1707-1710),  and  returning 
to  Germany  became  court  conductor  at  Hanover; 
settled  in  England  1712,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death,  1757. 

Haendel  was  a  man  of  the  world,  full  of  his  own 
artistic  importance  and  respectability,  passionate 
and  impulsive,  tenacious  of  purpose  and  of  liberal 
views.  As  a  man  of  the  world  he  knew  how  to  deal 
with  the  public  and  to  take  public  taste  into  consid- 
eration, and  his  oratorios,  written  for  the  people, 
show  in  melodious  form  often  a  remarkable  affinity 
to  the  tender  pathos  or  rousing  spirit  of  popular 
songs;  they  never  fail  in  their  immediate  effect  on 
the  hearer,  through  the  poetic  expression  or  dramatic 
character.  In  his  choral  works,  which  establish  his 
position  in  the  front  rank  of  composers,  he  is,  in 
polyphonic  treatment,  equal  to  Bach,  save  where  he 
sacrifices  the  severe  form  to  dramatic  effect. 

Haendel's  compositions    for   organ   and   clavier, 


• 

104  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

though  of  limited  extent  arid  importance  as  com- 
pared with  his  operas  and  oratorios,  form  a  very 
valuable  addition  to  musical  literature.  His  compo- 
sitions for  the  clavecin  comprise  a  series  of  suites, 
six  fugues,  and  a  number  of  smaller  works,  together 
with  ensemble  music.  The  suites,  equal  to  Bach's 
best  works  in  this  line,  differ  from  those  of  .the  latter 
in  that  a  large  portion  of  the  movements  bring  ex- 
positions of  original  musical  ideas  rather  than  the 
idealized  dance,  and  that  even  the  fugue  is  not  de- 
barred; this  gives  Haendel's  suites  greater  variety 
of  form  and  a  more  universal  tendency.  The  smaller 
compositions  include  a  number  of  lessons,  capriccios, 
fantasies,  chaconnes  and  variations,  written  appar- 
ently in  his  capacity  as  teacher;  they  are  valuable  as 
studies  in  Haendel's  style  and  technic. 

Haendel's  powerful  artistic  individuality  had  an 
astonishing  effect  on  musical  matters  in  his  day,  and 
it  may  be  safely  said  that  Haendel,  to  a  great  degree, 
governed  England's  subsequent  musical  develop- 
ment. His  influence  on  music  and  its  progress  as  an 
art,  however,  is  by  no  means  equal  to  Bach's,  and  in 
piano  literature  he  belongs  to  the  great  tone  masters 
in  virtue  of  great  clearness  of  form  and  power  of 
thought,  rather  than  depth  and  expression. 

Many  composers  continue  to  interest  themselves 
in  piano  and  chamber  music,  and  more  or  less  suc- 
cessful attempts  are  made  to  find  a  proper  style  of 
writing  suitable  to  the  clavier.  There  are  the  sons 
of  J.  S.  Bach:  Wilhelm  Friedemann  (1710-1784), 
Philipp  Emanuel  (1714-1788),  Johann  Chr.  Friedrich 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  10$ 

(1732-1795),  and  Job.  Christian  (1735-1782);  and  his 
pupils,  Joh.  Ludwig  Krebs  (1713-1780),  Fried.  Wilh. 
Marpurg  (1718-1795),  Christoph  Nichelman  (1717- 
1762),  and  Joh.  Ph.  Kirnberger  (1721-1783);  there  is, 
in  England,  Thos.  Aug.  Arne  (1710-1778);  in  Italy, 
Giov.  Bat.  Martini  (1706-1784),  Pietro  Locatelli 
(1693-1764),  Dom.  Paradisi  (1712-1795),  Bald.  Ga- 
luppi  (1703-1785);  in  France,  Schobert  (1720-1768); 
and  in  Germany,  John  Ernst  Eberlin  (1710-1776), 
Joh.  A.  Rolle  (1718-1785),  Leopold  Mozart  (1719- 
1787)  and  Georg  Benda  (1721-1795).  Their  compo- 
sitions have  considerable  individual  merit,  showing 
grace  and  beauty  in  form  and  expression;  and,  the 
more  the  writers  appreciate  the  technic  of  the 
clavier,  the  nearer  they  come  to  the  peculiar  style. 
More  and  more  the  polyphonic  style  of  writing  dis- 
appears, except  in  the  severe  form,  but  a  develop- 
ment in  two  parts  seems  to  succeed. 

Leopold  Mozart  is  more  fortunate  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  facilities  of  the  clavier,  but  Ph.  Em. 
Bach  seems  to  have  finally  established  the  fact  that 
piano  music  does  not  find  its  true  essence  in  the  de- 
velopment of  different  voices,  that  treble  and  bass 
are  a  peculiarity  of  the  wide  range  of  the  clavier, 
and  that  the  true  nature  of  piano  music  lies  in  the 
greater  or  lesser  fullness  and  splendor  of  treatment 
unlimited  by  a  definite  number  of  parts. 

Ph.  Em.  Bach's  compositions  for  the  clavecin,  a 
large  number  of  concertos,  sonatas  and  other  works 
— among  them  so  called  characteristic  pieces  with 
high  sounding  titles— are  pleasing  and  effective. 


io6  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

The  peculiar  clavecin  style,  which  does  not  depend 
on  a  definite  number  of  parts  but  has  recourse  to  all 
manner  of  treatment  at  will,  shows  itsell  best  in  his 
sonata  movements;  these  movements  themselves  arc 
less  interesting  since  they  lack  a  contrasting  second 
theme.  His  adagios,  however,  are  full  of  a  certain 
refinement  in  taste  and  expression.  With  Ph.  Em. 
Bach,  the  sonata  begins  to  take  a  leading  part  in 
the  forms  of  composition  for  the  clavier;  the  sub- 
ordination of  all  the  parts  to  one  melodious  princi- 
pal voice  becomes  more  apparent;  the  modulations 
into  other  keys  are  freer  and  more  daring;  enhar- 
monic relations  begin  to  play  an  important  part, 
and  sudden  and  marked  transitions  in  dynamics, 
from  forte  to  piano,  often  give  a  facetiousness  to  his 
expositions  which  are  in  marked  contrast  to  the 
solid  and  serene  humor  of  his  father. 

The  principles  of  pianoforte  style  introduced  in 
the  sonatas  of  Ph.  Em.  Bach  mark  the  beginning  of 
a  new  era  in  piano  literature.  The  innovations,  dar- 
ing and  reckless  as  they  must  have  appeared  to  the 
scions  of  the  old  school,  and  striking  as  they  are  in 
comparison  to  the  severe  style  of  organ  composi- 
tions of  the  time,  are  beginning  to  show  now  and 
then  in  the  works  of  contemporary  writers  for  the 
clavier,  who  have  worked  energetically,  though  not 
with  equal  success,  in  the  same  direction.  The  great 
composers  of  the  second  period,  Haydn,  Mozart  and 
Beethoven,  are  fully  occupied  with  the  further  de- 
velopment of  this  typical  style,  while  the  efforts  to 
formulate  the  ideas  first  applied  to  the  sonata  move- 


THE    PIANIST  S   ART.  ID/ 

ment  by  Scarlatti  bring  about  finally  the  perfected 
great  art  form,  the  sonata. 

Joseph  Haydn  (1732-1809)  received  a  thorough 
practical  education  in  music  as  one  of  the  choristers 
of  St.  Stephens  at  Vienna.  Engaged  as  accompanist 
to  one  of  Porpora's  pupils  in  1751,  he  became  at- 
tached to  the  distinguished  singing  master  and  com- 
poser as  "  famulus  "  and  remained  with  him  until 
1754,  and,  having  great  facility  in  acquisition,  picked 
up  much  of  the  master's  method  of  composition. 
His  first  symphony  was  produced  in  1760,  and  as 
orchestra  conductor  to  Prince  Esterhazy  (1761-1790) 
he  composed  a  long  line  of  similar  works  for  orches- 
tra and  ensemble.  Two  visits  to  England  brought 
him  many  honors  and  pecuniary  benefit. 

Haydn,  who  seems  to  have  been  but  an  indiffer- 
ent piano  player,  began  to  compose  at  a  time  when 
the  clavecin  was  still  a  very  imperfect  instrument, 
and  when  Ph.  Em.  Bach  was  beginning  to  become 
famous,  while  toward  the  end  of  his  long  career  as 
a  composer  the  piano  had  arrived  at  a  comparatively 
high  grade  of  perfection,  and  piano  technic  and 
piano  music  had  developed  in  an  astonishing  man- 
ner. It  is  a  matter  of  small  surprise,  therefore,  that 
some  of  his  sonatas  show  a  sort  of  primitive  style, 
while  others  are  of  considerable  value  and  impor- 
tance; and,  since  there  is  no  successive  opus  number, 
it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  better  works 
are  of  later  date. 

Haydn,  who  is  honored  with  the  distinction  of 
being  the  "father  of  modern  instrumental  music," 


io8  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

has,  during  a  long  lifetime  chiefly  devoted  to  or- 
chestra and  ensemble  works,  composed  some  thirty 
sonatas  for  the  piano  alone.  These  sonatas  show  a 
marked  improvement  over  those  of  Ph.  Em.  Bach, 
inasmuch  as  Haydn  gives  each  movement  a  rounder 
form ;  the  motives  are  carried  out  with  greater  con- 
sequence, the  different  parts  of  the  movements  are 
clearer  defined,  the  second  theme — which  is  wanting 
in  the  sonatas  of  Ph.  Em.  Bach  and  in  Haydn's  very 
probably  due  to  his  early  relation  to  Porpora  and 
his  consequent  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Ital- 
ian method  of  composition — is  well  developed, 
claims  considerable  attention  and  gives  the  move- 
ment some  dramatic  force  and  musical  importance. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  movements  and 
their  co-relation  and  import  are  still  arbitrary;  some 
sonatas  have  two,  others  three  movements,  as  though 
without  pressing  reasons  one  or  the  other  move- 
ment had  been  left  out.  The  different  movements 
are  not  always  of  the  same  artistic  and  musical  merit, 
and  few  are  the  sonatas  in  which  the  movements 
appear  somewhat  evenly  graded  according  to  their 
inner  value  and  to  their  effect. 

The  melodies  are  more  euphonious  and  accom- 
panied at  random;  two,  three,  or  more  parts,  some- 
times in  strictly  independent  development,  change 
from  measure  to  measure;  a  given  number  of  voices 
is  nowhere  carried  out,  full  harmonies  in  close  posi- 
tion or  wide  range  change  with  rhythmic  or  har- 
monic figuration,  and  as  the  musical  essence  adapts 
itself  more  to  the  peculiar  character  of  the  instru- 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  IQg 

ment  it  gains  in  expressive  power.  Though  Haydn's 
ideas  are  neither  of  great  weight  musically  nor  in 
expressive  quality  of  great  depth  and  variety,  their 
character,  unaffected  and  of  a  childlike  simplicity,  is 
of  a  youthful,  vigorous  spirit  which  is  enhanced  by 
a  graceful  musical  exposition  and  a  genial  contrast 
in  the  themes. 

Wolfgang  Amadeus  Mozart  (1756-1791),  born  in  w.  A.  Mozart 
Salzburg,  the  son  of  one  of  the  ablest  musicians  of 
his  time,  gave  early  proof  of  the  most  extraordinary 
gifts,  which  were  developed  with  loving  care.  The 
little  genius  became  known  to  the  musical  world  in 
an  extended  concert  tour  (1762-1766)  and  created 
the  greatest  enthusiasm  everywhere.  A  prolific  com- 
poser, he  published  his  first  sonatas  in  Paris,  1765, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty  had  written  over  two  hun- 
dred compositions,  including  operas,  masses,  sym- 
phonies, quartettes,  sonatas  and  concertos. 

Mozart,  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  gifted  of 
our  great  composers,  was  of  a  genial  tenderness  and 
nobility  of  feeling  which  not  only  prevailed  in  his 
character,  but  is  the  dominating  essence  of  his  works. 
Admired  and  all  but  spoiled  by  enthusiastic  lovers 
of  art  when  a  precocious  child,  his  matured  genius 
failed  to  receive  the  ready  recognition,  and  in  the 
bitter  fight  for  existence  this  loving  disposition  and 
loftiness  of  character  appear  to  have  been  the  safe- 
guard of  his  artistic  self.  A  never  failing  beauty  of 
sound  which  seems  to  penetrate  all  his  harmonious 
combinations,  a  refinement  in  musical  characteris- 


I IO  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

tics  and  a  superior  power  of  formation  lend  a  charm 
to  his  works  which  is  ever  fresh  and  entrancing. 

Among  his  operas,  symphonies  and  quartettes 
are  master  works  of  musical  art,  works  of  perennial 
beauty.  Piano  literature  claims  a  large  number  of 
sonatas,  concertos,  variations,  ensemble  and  smaller 
works  of  indisputable  merit.  One  of  the  greatest 
pianists  of  his  time,  he  was  much  more  qualified  to 
promote  the  new  clavier  style  than  his  contempo- 
rary and  friend,  Haydn.  The  grace  and  elegant  ease 
of  his  playing  is  manifest  in  the  brilliant  figures  in 
his  concertos,  which  show  a  rich  and  varied  develop- 
ment of  technic.  A  refined  musical  idea  prevails  in 
all  his  works,  and  as  the  noble,  heart-winning  melo- 
dies gain  in  importance,  the  passages  become  more 
subordinate,  so  as  to  better  carry  the  ideas  and  to 
impart  their  spirit  to  them.  As  the  piano  gains  in 
volume  of  tone,  the  melody  gains  in  breadth,  the  em- 
bellishments are  scarcer  and  less  given  to  manner- 
ism; greater  clearness  and  distinction  in  melody 
and  passages  make  the  construction  more  interest- 
ing, and  as  the  different  parts  assume  more  definite 
relation  to  each  other,  their  meaning  is  better  de- 
fined. 

The  sonatas  are  not  always  of  the  same  perfect  type 
Some  of  them  may  have  been  written  for  pupils,  and 
the  sonatas  of  later  date  are  certainly  maturer  than 
the  earlier  ones.  The  number  (three)  of  movements 
is  uniform  in  the  sonatas  and  concertos.  In  the  con- 
struction nathing  is  indistinct  or  doubtful;  each  part 
has  its  fixed  place  and  is  properly  carried  out,  though 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  Ill 

capable  of  greater  development.  The  first  move- 
ment is  more  elaborate;  the  second  in  form  of  the 
"  lied,"  and  the  last  mostly  the  rondo.  As  the  can- 
tilene  in  the  middle  movement  begins  to  spread 
itself  more,  the  two  other  movements  assume  a 
more  decidedly  lively  character.  In  the  concertos  a 
general  musical  idea  establishes  organic  connection 
between  the  piano  and  orchestra,  the  technical  dis- 
play, more  varied  and  brilliant,  seems  to  carry  out 
the  musical  spirit  without  predominating. 

'  A  number  of  smaller  compositions,  the  gigue,  the 
rondos  in  A  minor  and  F  major,  and  the  fantasies  in 
C  minor  and  C  major  (with  fugue)  are  of  great 
artistic  beauty,  and  in  poetical  sentiment,  originality 
of  invention  and  beauty  of  form,  true  children  of 
Mozart's  genius;  as  they  have  retained  a  certain 
freshness,  even  in  outward  style,  they  may  be  found 
occasionally  on  the  artist's  repertoire.  The  sonatas 
and  concertos,  though  full  of  beauty,  have  been 
superseded  by  more  elaborate  works  of  the  same 
order,  but  offer  a  variety  of  matter  to  the  student 
which  is  of  the  very  highest  value. 

Mozart's  great  rival  at  the  piano,  Muzio  dementi   M.  Clements 
(1752-1832),  the  greatest  piano  virtuoso  of  his  time,     1752~ 
superior  in  execution  and  finish,  but  lacking  much  of 
Mozart's  genial  nobility  and  grace  of  expression,  is 
as  a  composer  of  sonatas  much  more  prolific  than 
the  latter.     In  his  hundred  sonatas  there  is  no  mate- 
rial change  in  the  form,  but  the  improvement  in  the 
clavier  style  is  very  marked,  and  dementi's  influence 
on  the  further  development  of  piano  music  is  much 


112  THE   PIANISTS   ART. 

greater  even  than  Mozart's.  A  thoroughly  systema- 
tized fingering  and  wider  position  of  the  hand  en- 
abled dementi  to  play  chords  and  passages  which 
had  not  been  attempted  before;  greater  independ- 
ence in  finger  and  wrist  movement  made  it  easy  for 
him  to  play  thirds,  sixths  and  octaves  with  great 
smoothness  and  rapidity.  His  sonatas  have  beauty 
of  form  and  elegance  of  style  and  are  pleasing  and 
effective,  yet  they  often  make  the  impression  of 
elegant  studies,  since  he  uses  them  for  the  display 
of  his  new  and  brilliant  passages.  His  allegro  move- 
ments at  least  are  based  on  some  prominent  piano 
figure,  and  even  the  melodious  parts  serve  more  as 
an  offset  to  the  passages  than  as  expositions  of  a 
musical  idea.  This  gives  Clementi's  sonatas  some- 
thing dry  and  pedantic;  and  even  in  his  adagios, 
which  are  at  times  of  remarkable  breadth  and  artistic 
conception,  he  never  rises  to  the  power  of  truly 
poetic  expression. 

Of  infinitely  greater  value  than  the  sonatas  is  his 
"  Gradus  ad  Parnassum,"  a  collection  of  etudes  which 
has  no  equal  in  piano  literature,  and  almost  rivals  in 
importance  Bach's  "  Well  Tempered  Clavecin." 
The  experience  of  a  long  and  very  successful  career 
as  a  virtuoso  and  teacher  enabled  him  to  give  to  the 
pianistic  world  a  work  which  has  outlived  all  the 
periods  of  improved  piano  technic,  and  is  even  to-day 
altogether  indispensable  to  the  student. 

Mozart's  beauty  of  form  and  refinement  in  musical 
characteristics,  and  Clementi's  achievements  in  the 
technical  development  of  the  clavier  style  were  the 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  113 

legacies  left  to  the  master  spirit  whose  position  in 
musical  art  and  pid.no  literature  is  the  most  exalted 
and  indisputable.  Ludwig  van  Beethoven  (1770- 
1827)  not  only  materially  increased  the  rich  variety 
of  dementi's  style,  he  enlarged  and  perfected  the 
sonata  and  gave  instrumental  music  the  dramatic 
force,  the  pathetic  and  passionate  inner  power  of 
expression  which  make  it  truly  the  language  of 
emotion. 

Born  in  Bonn,  December,  1770,  where  his  grand- 
father was  court  conductor  (176 1-1773)  and  his  father 
a  tenor  singer  and  violinist,  he  inherited  strong 
musical  inclinations,  and  at  an  early  age  developed 
an  easy  musical  appreciation  and  technical  facility. 
A  steady,  systematic  education  seems  not  to  have 
been  allotted  to  him,  yet  under  the  tuition  of  several 
more  or  less  worthy  instructors  he  acquired  good 
facility  in  piano  and  violin  playing  and  composition, 
so  that  he  was  appointed  assistant  court  organist  in 
1783.  A  visit  to  Vienna  in  1787,  which  brought  him 
in  contact  with  Mozart,  was  of  short  duration,  but  in 
1792  he  made  his  home  there  to  study  with  Haydn, 
and  later  with  Albrechtsberger  and  Salieri.  In 
1795  he  published  three  piano  trios — which  seem  to 
have  been  projected  already  in  Bonn — and  three 
sonatas,  Op.  I  and  2.  These  works  made  him  at 
once  the  foremost  of  living  composers  in  these 
genres,  and  his  superiority  <^er  similar  works  of 
Haydn  and  Mozart  was  plainly  manifest  in  the 
greater  pregnancy  of  his  ideas,  greater  freedom  and 
refinement  in  artistic  formation  and  an  original  style 

8 


I  14  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

in  the  treatment  of  the  instrument.  Each  successive 
year  brought  new  and  more  important  works,  which 
received  marked  notice — glowing  praise  and  highest 
admiration  on  the  one  hand,  severe  criticism  and 
direct  opposition  on  the  other.  Beginning  about 
1798,  his  hearing  became  affected,  and  in  spite  of 
every  effort  the  evil  continued  to  grow,  so  that  in 
course  of  time  he  was  reduced  to  total  deafness, 
about  1815.  Excluded  from  the  world  of  sound,  he 
continued  to  produce  works  of  increasing  grandeur 
and  beauty  until  his  death,  March,  1827. 

There  is  no  composer  whose  works,  from  first  to 
last,  show  such  marked  and  steady  advance,  each 
far  surpassing  all  similar  works  of  other  composers, 
and  only  outclassed  by  his  own  later  efforts  in  the 
same  direction.  With  each  new  work  he  seems  to 
gain  new  power,  and  more  and  more  surprisingly 
his  artistic  individuality  continues  to  unfold  itself. 
In  his  earlier  compositions  he  manifests  a  perfect 
harmony  in  form  and  material,  so  that  melodious 
beauty  and  the  meaning  and  expression  are  con- 
gruent. He  shows  a  well  pronounced  individual- 
ity, great  depth  of  feeling  and  a  complete  mastery 
of  all  that  is  required  to  bring  it  out  properly;  yet 
with  all  these  strong  and  original  points  he  finds  his 
example  in  Mozart,  as  is  clearly  seen  in  his  manner 
and  construction.  Particularly  striking  and  far  in 
advance  of  Mozart,  so  as  to  seem  even  in  this  period 
of  homage  to  the  latter's  genius,  totally  new  and 
original  in  every  way,  are  the  beautiful,  large-hearted 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  115 

and  dramatic  adagios,  which,  in  their  touching  ex- 
pressiveness, attain  almost  "speaking"  quality. 

More  and  more  his  marked,  strong  and  exuberant 
individuality  claims  prior  consideration,  and  with 
his  third  symphony,  the  "Eroica,"  arrives  a  notice- 
able change;  the  forms  are  considerably  wider,  the 
ideas  gain  greater  breadth  and  are  saturated  with 
expression,  and  the  treatment  is  of  greater  freedom 
and  variety.  Not  only  the  striking  .beauty  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  melodies  and  the  full  assurance  of 
perfect  form  are  to  be  admired,  but  the  power  of  in- 
vention, the  subtleness  of  musical  characteristic  and 
a  conciseness  in  the  motives,  which  admits  of  a  sur- 
prising thematic  construction;  the  musical  impulse 
is  deeper  and  more  lasting,  and  the  imagination 
richer  and  more  daring. 

With  the  increasing  difficulty  in  hearing — the 
left  ear  still  retained  a-  semblance  of  life,  so  that 
loud  and  distinct  speaking  had  some  effect — Bee- 
thoven begins  to  disregard  the  taste  and  liking  of 
the  public;  more  and  more  he  appears  to  lose  con- 
nection with  the  world;  his  inner  life  seems  to  be 
more  active,  and  the  strong  current  of  feeling  gains 
in  power  the  more  it  is  withdrawn  from  outside  in- 
fluence. His  ideas  seem  to  be  more  inspired  and 
replete  with  feeling — "from  the  heart,  and  may  it 
touch  the  heart" — in  the  power  and  truth  of  ex- 
pression they  are  more  touching  than  those  even  of 
the  second  period,  and  as  though  he  wished  in  the 
sunset  of  his  life  to  send  a  friendly  greeting  to  his 
great  compeer.  Bach,  he  cultivates  the  polyphone 


n6  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

and  fugue  style.  To  give  full  and  direct  expression 
to  his  ideas  he  manifests  greater  severity  and  labor 
in  writing,  and  in  increasing  subjectivity  gives  birth 
to  the  most  beautiful  thoughts  and  an  interesting 
thematic  work.  The  mastery  of  form  is  still  fresh 
and  appears  at  times  to  have  grown  even  stronger 
than  in  his  period  of  plastic  grace  and  strength,  but 
the  form  is  less  translucent  than  formerly,  and  neither 
form  nor  idea  will  unveil  its  beauty  at  first  sight 
to  the  student.  Like  a  prophet,  he  is  far  in  advance 
of  his  time  and  ever  new  wonders  of  the  art  are  re- 
vealed to  those  that  persistently  seek  the  inner  es- 
sence under  the  always  promising  but  slowly  yield- 
ing outer  shell. 

The  improved  technic  of  dementi  broadens  the 
style  of  Haydn  and  Mozart;  the  piano  passages 
become  richer  and  more  varied;  dementi's  wider 
positions  and  richer  chords,  with  their  full  and  sat- 
urated sound,  reflect  in  Beethoven  the  full  import  of 
the  inner  character;  in  the  thematic  work  the  ideas 
are  brought  into  ever  new  connection  and  juxtapo- 
sition, so  that  in  increasing  intensity  they  give  a 
more  complete  significance  of  expression.  Thought 
and  feeling  are  equally  strong  and  refined,  and  while 
the  artistic  idea  is  everywhere  in  harmony  with  a 
perfect  form,  the  pregnancy  of  the  idea  becomes 
more  and  more  the  moving  essence,  thematic  work 
gains  in  refinement,  the  contours  of  the  different 
parts  and  periods  are  less  pronounced  than  formerly, 
and  the  reading  becomes  more  a  matter  of  study. 
Every  one  of  his  works  is  a  new  revelation;  there  is 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  II/ 

no  mannerism  of  any  kind,  and  what  can  be  said  of 
one  of  his  compositions  does  not  fit  the  other.  This 
incomparable  versatility  gives  Beethoven  something 
sphinx-like,  is  the  prime  cause  of  his  all  surpassing 
universality,  and  makes  him  the  adored  of  the 
admirers  of  perfect  form,  as  well  as  of  those  who 
worship  absolute  individual  freedom  in  the  artist. 
Beethoven  has  the  most  refined  and  exacting  sense 
of  form;  wherever  in  the  sensitiveness  for  unity  of 
character  in  the  whole  work  and  the  themes  and 
motives  in  detail  he  can  not  make  use  of  the  same 
pattern,  he  manifests  his  extraordinary  power  of 
artistic  formation  in  finding  the  right  and  fitting 
outer  form  for  a  characteristic  idea.  Thus  the  so- 
natas are  not  only  products  of  a  most  unfathomable 
nature  and  artistic  imagination,  but  veritable  patterns 
of  select  form. 

The  power  of  feeling  in  its  development  depends 
on  the  consciousness  and  activity  of  thought,  and 
music,  as  the  reflex  of  an  emotional  life,  necessitates 
an  intimate  connection  of  thought  and  feeling. 
Musical  thought  in  Beethoven  may  be  said  to  have 
its  source  in  emotional  life  itself,  and,  completely 
confined  to  emotion,  it  brings  in  artistic  conception 
the  minute  changes  of  feeling  and  expression. 
Where  thought  and  feeling  in  mental  training  and 
free  imagination  are  congruent  in  artistic  conception, 
musical  characteristic  will  be  the  most  perfect;  the 
more  varied  the  emotions  and  the  more  they  are 
carried  out  to  a  complete  exhaustion  of  feeling,  the 
greater  the  versatility  of  character. 


n8  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

This  power  of  thought  continually  engenders 
new  material  fitting  to  the  character  of  the  work,  the 
themes  and  motives  in  their  higher  pregnancy  re- 
quire greater  scope  in  elaborate  exposition  for  which 
the  fundamental  character  of  the  work — light  or 
graceful,  proud  or  daring,  of  joyous  expression, 
jocose  humor  or  boisterous  merriment,  tranquil  pen- 
siveness  or  serene  tenderness — gives  the  conditions. 
To  find  room  for  the  new  material  Beethoven  cre- 
ated the  characteristic  episodes  to  his  principal 
periods,  which,  far  from  obstructing  the  importance 
of  the  latter,  help  to  carry  and  elevate  them  as  he 
knows  how  to  subordinate  without  losing  rare  mu- 
sical beauty  even  for  less  important  parts.  Thus 
the  more  elaborate  part — Durchfuehrungs-satz — is 
worked  up  most  effectively  in  counterpoint  and 
modulation  so  as  to  be  frequently  the  culminating 
point  of  the  whole  work.  The  different  movements 
are  extended  by  one  or  more  additions — codas — 
which  give  the  expression  a  more  complete  and 
consummate  development,  and  in  this  particular 
Beethoven's  greater  maturity  of  artistic  instinct  is 
most  manifest  over  his  predecessors.  The  scherzo, 
which  he  adds  to  the  sonata  as  a  fourth  movement, 
gives  him  occasion  to  spread  his  burly  humor;  yet 
even  here  he  varies  the  character  by  always  carrying 
out  a  different  idea  from  the  fantastically  serene 
to  the  most  extravagant.  Artistic  individuality  has 
perfect  freedom  even  in  the  number  and  character 
of  the  movements;  everywhere  the  idea  is  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  form,  so  that  even  his  sonatas  in 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  iig 

two  movements  are,  by  way  of  contrast,  perfect 
types  of  this  genre. 

As  was  customary  with  popular  composers,  and 
intended,  perhaps,  as  a  concession  to  the  large  class 
of  amateurs,  Beethoven  has  written  a  number  of 
variations  in  the  light  and  graceful  style,  and  in  time 
he  developed  this  form  with  all  the  energy  of  his 
genial  nature.  The  variation  is  well  fitted  for  a 
slow  sonata  movement  whose  tendency  is  always 
more  or  less  plastic  repose  and  where  purely  indi- 
vidual feeling  frequently  finds  expression  in  the  lied 
or  aria.  Beethoven's  variations  develop  the  express- 
ive quality  of  the  aria  in  all  its  various  phases, 
and,  by  continued  mental  examination,  the  feeling 
becomes  clearer  defined,  more  idealized,  and  obtains 
greater  power  and  insistence.  The  thirty-three  vari- 
ations, on  a  valse  of  Diabelli,  are  the  most  stupend- 
ous; the  manner  in  which  the  composer  reconceives 
the  musical  and  artistic  possibilities  of  the  theme 
(in  itself  of  inferior  merit)  in  ever  new  form,  ideal- 
izes and  changes  the  expression  at  every  step,  shows 
almost  every  contingency  of  refined  musical 
thought  and  artistic  formation,  and  makes  this 
work,  the  last  for  the  piano,  one  of  unique  and  soli- 
tary grandeur. 

The  concertos  present  an  equally  marked  devel- 
opment in  form  and  idea.  The  first  shows  much  of 
Mozart's  instrumental  style,  but  the  grace  and  beauty 
of  form  and  originality  of  invention  is  as  markedly 
Beethoven's.  The  second  is  written  much  in  the 
same  manner,  lacking,  however,  some  of  the  sweet 


I2O  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

grace  and  winning  tenderness  of  the  first.  The  third 
in  C  minor  is  of  much  larger  mold  yet,  save  for  the 
grand  adagio,  still  in  Mozart's  spirit.  The  fourth  in 
G  and  the  fifth  in  E  flat  are  among  the  most  beauti- 
ful compositions  of  the  second  period.  The  one  of 
idyllic  feminine  grace  and  beauty,  the  other  full  of 
manly  power,  burly  humor  and — in  the  adagio — of 
romantic  reverie.  This  last  in  E  flat,  commonly 
named  the  emperor  concerto,  marks  the  culminat- 
ing point  in  this  class  of  composition  which  has 
never  been  obtained  since. 

In  ensemble  music  with  piano  we  have  a  long 
line  of  compositions,  duos,  trios  and  a  quartette,  all 
of  which  have  their  own  individual  character  and 
beauty;  their  form  is  like  the  sonata  for  piano 
alone  and  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  sonatas  can 
fitly  be  repeated  here.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
here,  as  in  every  other  genre,  he  surpassed  all  his 
predecessors,  and  that  in  some  of  them  he  still 
stands  unrivaled  to  the  present  day. 

An  ill-regulated  education,  the  absence  of  loving 
care  on  the  part  of  his  parents — the  father  was  as 
severe  and  untrustful  as  the  mother  was  overindul- 
gent  and  incapable — laid  the  foundation  to  his  later 
unsociable  habits  and  unguarded  manner  in  life. 
He  was  genial  and  of  winning  personality  to  his 
friends,  but  careless  of  their  good  will  and  affection; 
witty  and  humorous,  yet  always  distrustful  and  in 
his  transactions  occasionally  not  overdelicate;  full 
of  his  own  artistic  importance  to  overbearing,  while 
ruthlessly  fault-finding  with  others. 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  121 

Such  was  his  character  in  real  life;  yet  if 
artistic  personality  is  the  result  of  man's  thinking 
and  feelihg,  the  outcome  of  his  inner  essence,  we 
have  a  number  of  characteristic  traits  which  give  a 
picture  of  the  most  refined  quality.  Capable  of 
idealizing  all  that  moved  him  and  of  realizing  to 
such  perfection  the  full  measure  of  truth  and  beauty, 
he  must  have  lived  an  inner  life  which  is  truly  envi- 
able. In  the  beauty  of  form,  the  most  exacting 
truthfulness  of  expression  and  a  discrimination  even 
in  the  smallest  details,  there  is  no  one  superior  to 
him  in  the  whole  history  of  fine  arts  and  letters. 

The  eminently  brilliant  passages  which  were  a 
prominent  feature  in  dementi's  sonatas — made  sub- 
servient to  superior  musical  thought  and  feeling  by 
Beethoven,  so  as  to  form  a  rich  and  varied  back- 
ground to  musical  characteristic — were  taken  up, 
remodeled  and  enlarged  by  a  number  of  excellent 
pianists  and  musicians  of  great  fame  and  ability  in 
their  days,  whose  depth  of  feeling  and  power  of 
thought  were,  however,  even  less  than  dementi's 
equal  to  the  richer  display  of  material.  A  finished 
style  and  well  matured  expression  in  playing  and 
good  taste  and  form  in  writing  give  as  little  claim  to 
individual  character  and  the  power  and  beauty  of 
ideal  life  in  music  as  the  observance  of  the  conven- 
tional rules  of  good  society  is  a  token  of  man's  inner 
worth  and  value.  The  efforts  of  these  men  of 
undeniable  talent  and  great  musical  respectability, 
directed  mainly  to  a  tasteful  display  of  their  pianis- 
tic  ability  in  beauty  of  tone,  smooth,  harmonious 


122  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

progressions,  pretty  melodies  and  well  rounded 
phrases,  lacked  not  the  symmetry  of  form  which 
could  be  studied  (and  if  need  be  copied)  in  the 
many  beautiful  examples,  but  the  corresponding 
inner  essence  of  thought  and  feeling.  The  arrange- 
ment in  proper  periods  manifests  good  sense  of  pro- 
portion and  insures  variety,  but  the  inner  force 
which  controls  this  arrangement  is  not  always  ap- 
parent; the  phrases  are  brought  in  a  certain  well 
arranged  manner,  but  the  logic,  more  or  less  potent, 
by  which  each  part  leads  to  something  that  is  to 
follow  and  by  which  all  the  phrases  and  motives 
contribute  to  the  general  impulse,  is  wanting,  and 
the  connection  and  relation  of  parts  seems  often 
merely  mechanical.  Piano  music  thus  lost  in  beauty 
of  character  and  expression  what  it  gained  in  beauty 
of  sound  and  material  display.  The  greater  bulk  of' 
these  compositions  was  written  for  pupils  or,  better 
still,  for  the  market,  and  although  many  excellent 
traits  are  found  in  the  works  of  these  writers,  their 
importance  was  a  lasting  one  mostly  for  their  day. 
Joh.  Ludw.  Dussek  (1761-1812),  pupil  of  Ph.  Em. 
Bach,  is  a  most  prolific  composer,  in  whose  works 
expression  rises  sometimes  to  passionate  outbursts 
to  change  again  with  commonplace  phrases  and  an 
overcrowded  exposition.  Aug.  Eb.  Mueller  (1767- 
1817)  and  Ludwig  Berger  (1777-1839)  have  left 
many  works,  and  Ignaz  Pleyel  (1760-1831),  who  was 
a  very  popular  composer.  Most  of  the  works  of 
these  three  writers  have  altogether  disappeared. 
John  Bapt.  Cramer  (1771-1858)  and  John  Field  (1782- 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  123 

1837),  the- two  famous  pupils  of  Clementi,  still  hold 
a  respectable  place  in  piano  literature;  the  first  in  a 
set  of  etudes  of  good  technical  and  musical  quality, 
the  latter  in  a  number  of  smaller  compositions — 
nocturnes — of  great  beauty  of  form  and  elegance  of 
spirit.  Pianists  of  extraordinary  ability,  they  have 
written  many  meritorious  sonatas,  concertos  and  a 
variety  of  other  pieces  which  are  now  scarcely 
known  to  have  existed. 

Aug.  Alex.  Klengel  (1784-1852),  also  a  pupil  of 
Clementi,  devoted  his  maturer  years  to  the  perfec- 
tion of  a  work- -little  known,  yet  of  rare  merit — of 
canons  and  fugues,  similar  to  Bach's  "Well  Tem- 
pered Clavecin."  These  (48)  canons  and  fugues  are 
of  singular  beauty  in  form  and  counterpoint,  music- 
ally interesting,  and  in  their  (modern)  spirit  original 
so  that  they  offer  valuable  material  for  a  sound 
development  in  the  polyphone  and  legato  style  of 
playing.  Joh.  Nep.  Hummel  ( 1778-1837),  a  pupil  of 
Mozart,  shows  in  his  compositions  great  clearness, 
correctness  and  beauty  of  form  fully  adequate  to  his 
great  fame  as  a  classic  player,  yet  he  lacks  the  inner 
warmth  of  feeling  and  matured  thought;  the  fire  of 
genius  is  wanting  to  give  his  works  a  valuable  mu- 
sical character,~"and*  it  is  for  Fhe  beautiful  technical 
display  mostly  that  the  concertos  and  the  septette 
retain  their  artistic  value. 

Of  a  decidedly  higher  order  are  the  piano  com- 
positions of  C.   M.  von  Weber  (1786-1826),  whose     c.  M.von 
fame  in  musical  art  rests  on  the  merit  of  his  operas,     iv^-i&k 
Simplicity  and  truth  of  expression — with  a  shade, 


124  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

however,  of  coquettishness — give  his  melodies  a 
very  popular  character;  graceful  nobility  seems  to 
come  to  him  in  the  spirit  of  romantic  chivalry,  and 
the  brilliancy  of  his  passages  is  more  dazzling  and 
original  than  any  before  his  time,  dementi  not  ex- 
cepted.  In  the  pyrotechnical  display  a  melodious 
element  often  appears  latent,  which  gives  it  an  ele- 
gant musical  stability,  even  to  picturesqueness,  and 
the  vigor  and  fire — not  coming  and  going  in  fitful 
starts — seem  to  be  sustained  with  energetic  con- 
stancy. Alongside  of  Beethoven's  incomparably 
nobler  and  purer  works,  these  good  traits  appear  to 
less  advantage  in  his  sonatas  and  concertos;  but  in 
the  Concertstueck  and  a  number  of  smaller  works 
he  has  furnished  the  prototype  of  many  a  refined 
composition  of  the  later  piano  virtuosos. 

Classical  repose  in  Beethoven's  works  of  the  sec- 
ond period  made  room  for  greater  subtleness  and 
refinement  of  expression  in  his  last  period;  imagina- 
tion, "  which  bodies  forth  the  forms  of  things  un- 
known," begins  to  hold  a  more  important  part,  the 
idea  is  pursued  almost  to  the  utmost  limits  of 
thought  and  feeling,  and  though  losing  sometimes 
in  restful  beauty,  the  composer  gains  in  power  of  ex- 
pression and  subjectivity.  The  spirit  of  romance, 
which  in  mysterious  forebodings  seeks  conclusion 
with  the  preternatural,  whose  spritelike  aspirations 
find  mystic  voices  in  the  whispering  winds,  murmur- 
ing waves  and  rolling  thunder,  begins  to  fill  musical 
form.  Inciting  the  feeling  and  imagination  without 
giving  a  definite  expression  to  the  one  or  a  distinct 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.      .  125 

idea  to  the  other,  these  forms  are  filled  with  terror 
and  fear,  grief  and  sorrow,  longing  and  dreaming, 
joy  and  gladness;  and  the  indistinct,  nebulous  and 
indefinable  finds  occasion  for  new  revelry  in  sound. 
The  adagio  of  Bach'%Italian  concerto  and  his 
chromatic  fantasie  are  full  of  romantic  spirit. 
Beethoven,  in  the  first  movement  of  the  so-called 
Moonlight  sonata,  and  more  or  less  in  all  his  slow 
movements,  is  given  to  romantic  reverie;  but  what 
heretofore  appeared  occasionally  as  a  greater  ex- 
uberance of  feeling  bent  on  more  conclusive  expres- 
sion, now  rises  to  greater  importance  and  becomes  a 
prominent  characteristic  feature  in  musical  art. 

Franz  Schubert  (1797-1828),  the  son  of  a  school  Fr  Schubert 
teacher  in  a  suburb  of  Vienna,  brings  in  the  genial  1797-1&28- 
facility  of  conception,  an  almost  sententious  method 
of  expression  and  an  ever  increasing  conciseness  of 
form  lyric  individuality  of  feeling  to  the  most  com- 
plete expression  in  the  "lied,"  and  is  alongside  of 
the  classic  composers,  the  most  pronounced  repre- 
sentative of  the  romantic  school.  His  earliest  com- 
positions, written  when  he  was  barely  thirteen  years 
old,  are  full  of  preternatural  imaginings,  and  the  al- 
most unparalleled  productivity  in  a  short  period  of 
seventeen  years  is  hardly  more  astonishing  than  the 
exuberant  fantasie  and  wonderful  artistic  sensi- 
tiveness which  found  for  every  mood  the  most  plas- 
tic expression,  exhausting  the  feeling  in  every  shade 
and  detail. 

Schubert's  sonatas  and  the    two  fantasies  are  on 
the  average  not  as  perfect  in  form  and  fijiish  as  his 


126  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

songs.  The  incessantly  forking  imagination  and 
the  lyric  essence  of  his  artistic  nature  do  not  always 
reach  the  concentration  in  the  material  which  is 
desirable  in  the  larger  forms,  and  the  dialectic  ex- 
position of  the  classic  composers  is  often  wanting; 
the  different  movements  are  frequently  too  long,  so 
that  where  in  the  rich  power  of  his  fancy  he  does  not 
find  the  right  limit,  the  effect  of  the  whole  work  is 
considerably  weakened.  Critical  observation  and 
continued  detailed  examination  which  insure  a  well 
matured  balance  in  the  proportions,  and  thorough 
musical  training  in  thematic  work  and  counterpoint 
are  not  the  strong  point,  yet  the  details  are  full  of 
beauty,  a  sensuous  freshness  prevails  which  keeps 
the  player  spellbound  while  the  hearer,  who  is  im- 
pressed by  the  effect  of  the  entire  work,  misses  the 
contrast  of  the  themes,  their  opposition  and  the  con- 
sequent dramatic  impulse  in  the  movement.  The 
blending  of  joyfully  rising,  almost  excessive  vigor 
with  the  increased  intensity  of  tenderest  emotions, 
the  passages  full  of  heavenly  song,  the  fresh  humor 
and  the  interesting,  sometimes  piquant  rhythms  pass 
by  as  so  many  beautiful  images  one  more  enticing 
than  the  other,  like  fairy  stories  growing  out  of  the 
very  nature  of  the  instrument  and  in  their  fullness 
of  saturated  sound  a  very  Lethe  for  individual 
moods. 

In  ensemble  music — two  trios  and  a  quintette 
with  piano — Schubert  unquestionably  ranks  higher 
than  in  the  sonatas  for  piano  alone.  The  thematic 
work  is  not  of  the  vigorous  classical  type,  and.  the 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  127 

composer  loses  himself  at  times  in  his  "heavenly 
lengths,"  but  an  almost  individual  impulse  seems  to 
be  imparted  to  the  different  instruments  which  car- 
ries the  movement  along  more  satisfactorily. 

In  his  smaller  compositions  Schubert  rises  to  the 
full  importance  of  form  and  expression.  The  magic 
spell  of  an  absolute  beauty  of  sound — in  itself  of 
romantic  essence — in  the  refined  and  original  com- 
binations full  of  playfully  tender,  dreamy  or  happy 
revelry  finds  a  fitter  place  in  the  narrow  form.  The 
"Momens  musicales"  and  impromptus  are  tone 
pictures  of  unrivaled  beauty,  full  of  character  and 
poetic  sentiment  and  in  this  form  the  forerunners  of 
the  later  "songs  without  words"  and  the  character- 
istic pieces.  In  the  valses,  Laendler,  the  polonaises 
and  marches  for  four  hands — heretofore  scarcely 
more  than  popular  dance  forms— he  shows  such 
characteristic  refinement  in  melody,  such  variety  of 
rhythm  and  withal  such  healthy  sense  of  enjoy- 
ment and  sweetly  alluring,  interesting  moods  that 
in  their  greater  variety  of  expression  and  their 
higher  aims  they  must  now  be  recognized  as  typical 
art  forms. 

Felix  Mendelssohn   Bartholdy   (1809-1847),  re-  Mendelssohn 
ceived  a  most  careful  musical  education,  and  what-     180<J-1817- 
ever  could  benefit  the  general  development  of  his 
rare  talents  was  brought  to  bear  on  his  susceptible 
nature.     By  a  remarkable  ability  as  conductor  and 
pianist,  by  superior  refinement  in  taste  and  the  genial 
influence   of   his    personality,  which    he   freely  and 
unselfishly  used   in  the   service   of  musical   art,  he 


128  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

gained  easily  the  first  place  among  contemporary 
musicians.  After  a  prolonged  visit  to  Italy  and 
England  he  located  in  Dusseldorf,  1832,  became 
the  conductor  of  the  Leipzig  Gewandhaus  concerts 
in  1835  and  founded  the  conservatory  in  1843. 

A  most  detailed  and  careful  musical  training, 
based  on  the  classic  principles  of  Bach,  Haendel  and 
Beethoven,  gave  him  a  technic  in  composition,  which 
results  in  superior  clearness  and  elegance  of  form. 
Though  he  does  not  introduce  an  essentially  new 
element  in  musical  art,  his  extraordinary  insight  and 
circumspection  develop  some  of  the  latent  features 
in  an  ostensible  manner.  Weber's  operas,  with  their 
world  of  romantic  fancy,  gave  rise  to  a  host  of  cap- 
ering, frisking  genii  in  the  provokingly  romping, 
frolicsome  effervescence  of  the  music  to  "A  Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream"  and  the  scherzos  and 
rondos  for  piano.  New  and  original,  strange  and 
yet  so  catching  and  winning  is  Mendelssohn  in  this 
genre,  that  one  almost  feels  the  presence  of  these 
beings  of  elfish  lightness  and  is  eager  to  join  them. 
In  his  songs  without  words  he  attains  a  genial  warmth 
in  melodious  form  which,  though  not  so  expressive 
and  touching  as  Schubert's,  is  of  great  artistic  merit 
and  nobility  of  human  sentiment.  With  all  this  he 
develops  a  peculiarity  of  style  in  his  piano  compo- 
sitions which,  though  it  appears  in  ever  new  and 
novel  form,  gives  them  an  outward  character  which 
at  times  almost  touches  mannerism,  and  can  be 
traced  throughout. 

The  songs  without  words  have  always  been  a  vade- 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  I2Q 

mecum  with  the  better  class  of  amateurs;  of  his 
other  works  for  piano  solo,  the  concertos  and  rondo 
with  orchestra  and  the  ensemble  works  with  piano, 
it  may  be  sufficient  to  say  that  they  are  manifesta- 
tions of  an  amiable  individuality,  which  at  a  very 
early  age  attained  a  surprising  artistic  perfection, 
but  does  not  reach  a  higher  potentiality  in  the  later 
works. 

Friedrich  Kalkbrenner  (1788-1849)  lacks  depth, 
but  his  compositions  are  well  finished  and  pleasing. 
Ignaz  Moscheles  (1794-1870)  and  Ferdinand  Hiller 
(1811-1881)  do  not  obtain  in  their  compositions  a 
uniform  excellence,  but  Moscheles  has  studies  and 
concertos  of  good  musical  quality,  while  Hiller, 
besides  concertos  and  ensemble  music,  has  written 
very  interesting  character  pieces.  The  most  pro- 
nounced representative  of  the  light  virtuoso  type, 
Sigismund  Thalberg  (1812-1871),  a  pianist  of  mar- 
velous lightness  and  elegance,  developed  certain 
effects  in  piano  playing  to  the  detriment  of  musical 
qualities  in  composition.  Though  there  is  a  well- 
bred  fluency  and  equality  in  his  passages,  their 
more  or  less  trivial  elegance  of  manner  owed  much 
of  its  charm  to  the  pretty  operatic  melodies  which 
are  the  mainstay  of  his  fantasies.  His  "  Art  du 
Chant"  Op.  70,  however,  offers  very  desirable  mate- 
rial for  study  in  touch  and  the  use  of  the  pedal,  in 
both  of  which  Thalberg  must  be  considered  a  great 
master. 

Robert  Schumann  (1810-1856)  born  in  Zwickau, 
the  son  of  a  publisher  and  bookseller  from  whom  he 
9 


I3O  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

inherited  great  love  for  the  belles  Icttres  and  art. 
In  connection  with  other  studies,  musical  education 
was  carried  on  leisurely  and,  though  remarkable 
talent  was  noticeable,  little  effort  seems  to  have  been 
made  to  insure  an  early  and  careful  development. 
Literature  of  the  romantic  school  and  particularly 
Jean  Paul  (the  master  in  all  tender  effusions,  of  an 
exuberance  of  feeling  which  continually  alternates  in 
tears  of  joy  and  sorrow,  fantastically  playing  with 
romantic  shadows  without  the  power  of  artistic 
shapeliness)  are  his  daily  food;  and  even  after  he 
attends  the  university,  ostensibly  to  study  law,  he 
"works  much  in  private;  i.  e.,  at  the  piano  and  writes 
Jean  Pauliades."  Thus  he  spends  his  years  at  the 
universities  in  Leipzig  and  Heidelberg  practicing  at 
the  piano  all  the  morning  and  "enjoying  musical 
evenings  with  his  friends,"  whom  he  often  astonishes 
by  his  powers  of  improvisation.  Finally,  in  1830,  he 
takes  up  music  in  earnest,  studies  with  Friedrich 
Wieck  in  Leipzig — but  with  such  energy  and  withal 
such  impatience  and  imprudence  that  in  the  course 
of  the  year  his  right  hand  becomes  affected  and  the 
fourth  finger,  in  spite  of  medical  treatment,  remains 
lame.  Debarred  from  the  pursuit  of  mechanical  work, 
he  begins  1831  to  study  composition  with  Heinrich 
Dorn,  and  again  labors  with  constant  energy,  though 
without  system,  probably  in  consequence  of  the 
high  pressure  of  artistic  impetuosity. 

His  early  literary  inclinations  and  the  desire  to 
exert  his  influence  for  the  improvement  of  musical 
matters  (which  had  become  sadly  deteriorated  as  an 


THE    PIANISTS   ART  13! 

art  in  the  fashionable  display  of  the  small  virtuosos, 
and  seemed  almost  overcrowded  by  the  worthless 
jingle  of  such  writers  as  Herzand  Huenten)  induced 
him  in  1834  to  begin  a  "New  Journal  for  Music." 
Schumann's  tersely  written  aphorisms,  the  novelty  of 
his  style  and  the  poetical  coloring  of  his  articles 
soon  made  themselves  felt.  And  in  thus  forcing 
himself  out  of  a  dreamy  visionary  vegetation  into 
the  midst  of  musical  life,  he  gained  many  an  impulse 
for  his  artistic  self,  which  lurks  in  most  of  his  ear- 
lier compositions. 

The  Davidsbuendler,  a  fictitious  society  of  Schu- 
mann's invention  which  included  the  co-workers  of 
his  paper  and  many  musicians,  perhaps  personally 
unknown  to  him  but  valued  by  him  for  their  thor- 
oughly upright  musical  qualities,  was  of  great  power 
both  in  his  literary  efforts  and  in  his  compositions. 
How  closely  interwoven  his  work  is  in  both  direc- 
tions, and  how  clearly  individual  both  the  literary 
and  musical  effusions  are,  is  proved  by  the  wholly 
imaginary  representation  of  Schumann's  artistic 
individuality  in  either  of  them  by  the  three  char- 
acters, Florestan,  Eusebius  and  Master  Raro;  the 
irrepressible,  rash  and  headlong  Florestan;  Euse- 
bius, tender,  susceptible  and  dreaming,  and  that  per- 
sonification of  his  own  maturerself  which  was  to  be, 
Master  Raro,  to  whose  superior  judgment  all  dis- 
putes on  artistic  merit  were  submitted. 

Hand  in  hand  with  this  literary  work  Schumann 
enjoys  the  most  vigorous  period  of  composition. 
Rapturous  juvenile  moods,  humorous  and  merry  quibs 


132  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

and  an  often  ecstatic  depth  of  sentiment  pass  by 
with  unimpaired  freshness,  and  his  many-sided  ideal 
life  gains  a  force  of  dramatic  impulse  which  claims 
attention  and  forces  the  player  to  individual  thought 
and  consideration.  With  almost  second  sight  he 
enters  the  remotest  depth  of  feeling  to  find  the  tcn- 
derest,  luscious  expression.  He  composes  only  for 
the  piano,  and  these  works  are  so  "claviermaessig" 
in  their  conception  that  he  seems  to  have  almost 
drawn  them  from  the  instrument;  his  mode  of  treat- 
ment is  perfectly  new  and  original  in  the  quasi 
orchestral  polyphony,  in  the  use  of  the  pedal  and 
wide  harmonies;  the  indiscriminate  use  of  both  hands 
for  every  purpose  in  crossing  and  interlocking  or  in 
melody  or  accompaniment,  give  him  a  great  variety 
of  new  effects.  His  technic  is  markedly  different 
from  others,  and  the  difficulties  that  are  found  are 
hardly  of  a  merely  mechanical  kind,  since  they  are 
the  very  embodiment  of  the  musical  idea.  The 
smaller  forms  of  the  lied  or  dance  carry  his  ideas 
most  delightfully,  and  many  of  these  musical  tid- 
bits are  joined  into  larger  forms;  the  variety  which 
he  develops  and  the  marked  characteristics  prove 
ever  and  anon  his  creative  power.  The  sudden 
impulse  of  a  spontaneous  outburst  gives  them  a 
bewitching  freshness  and  causefulness  which  seem 
always  incidental. 

Large  and  well  developed  melodies  arc  scarce  in 
these  early  works,  but  the  logic  of  the  ideas  is  con- 
clusive and  unyielding,  and  the  very  conciseness  of 
the  melodic  form  causes  a  superabundance  of  frag- 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  133 

mentary  phrases  full  of  life  and  meaning,  thus  giv- 
ing a  spring-like  pressing  and  budding  to"  the  idea 
which  in  its  very  essence  and  make-up  is  full -of 
romantic  spirit.  A  soulful,  enraptured  feeling  and  a 
fantastic,  dreamy  spirit  are  mated  to  a  healthy,  vig- 
orous artlessness  and  sincerity  of  purpose,  which 
often  insures  a  markedly  popular  character;  playful 
humor  is  constantly  alive  and  gives  the  artistic  indi- 
viduality greater  power  and  freedom  of  expression. 
Harmony,  rhythm  and  melody  are  one  and  all  true 
types  of  Schumann's  character.  Polyphonic  writing 
appears  frequently;  the  counterpoint  is  mostly  of  the 
budding,  presentient  kind,  so  that  harmony  becomes 
in  truth  a  moving  essence.  Rhythmical  formation — 
sometimes  modeled  after  the  more  refined  of  the 
Greek  meters — adds  its  charm  and  produces  many 
novel  effects,  yet  lacks  the  clearness  and  force  of 
the  classic  composers;  the  less  orderly  essence  of 
the  syncope  and  negative  accents  becomes  at  times 
too  prominent  for  greater  precision. 

The  smaller  forms  in  the  Papillons,  Davids- 
buendler,  Carnaval,  etc.,  have  no  organic  connec- 
tion (save  in  individual  moods  of  the  writer  or  in  the 
incidents  of  his  daily  life)  but  one  and  all  are  of  the 
same  poetical  impulse  which  rushes  onward  to  the 
inevitable  climax.  Many  of  the  superscriptions  to 
the  pieces  as,  "  Glueckes  Genug,"  Verrufene  Stelle, 
im  Walde,  etc.,  are  well  calculated  to  fix  the  indefi- 
nite spirit  of  romantic  dreaminess  to  a  distinct  idea, 
though  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  words  are 
necessary  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  music. 


134  TEE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

In  the  Variations  Schumann  uses  the  form  with 
greater  freedom  than  had  been  done  heretofore,  but 
with  a  superior  lavishness  of  feeling  and  vital  energy. 
The  first  (op.  I)  shows  some  of  Moscheles'  technic, 
and  the  Impromptus  (op.  5)  are  fashioned  after  the 
manner  of  Beethoven's  Eroica  variations  over  a  fun- 
damental bass,  whilethe  Symphonic  Etudes — in  form 
of  variations — are  on  the  largest  scale,  and  insure 
him  a  place  among  the  foremost  composers  for  the 
piano;  the  form  is  here  treated  with  the  most  genial 
audacity,  and  the  technic  necessary  for  the  express- 
ion of  the  exuberant  flow  of  ideas  is  reinforced  to 
the  utmost  limits  of  true  bravura  style.  That 
Schumann  was  not  inconsiderate  of  technical  de- 
velopment is  apparent  in  his  version  of  the  Paganini 
Etudes  and  the  "  Toccata." 

The  power  of  shaping  his  ideas  to  the  require- 
ments of  larger  forms  seems  to  grow  on  him  in 
course  of  time.  He  is  most  lavish  in  beautiful  ideas 
in  his  first  two  sonatas,  and  considerable  improve- 
ment in  the  adjustment  and  congruency  of  form  and 
idea  must  be  admitted  in  his  third  sonata  (op.  22) 
over  the  two  previous  ones;  still  he  fails  to  obtain 
unity  of  form  at  least  in  the  allegro  movements. 
The  Fantasie,  op.  17,  is  of  these  larger  works  the 
more  unique  and  satisfactory,  carrying  out  its  poetic 
sentiment  in  the  loosely  connected  fantastic  pictures 
of  the  first  movement,  the  triumphant  march  and 
the  dreamy  restfulness  of  the  third  movement. 

Upon  his  marriage  to  Clara  Wieck  follows  a  time 
of  glorious  song;  with  his  usual  ardor  and  impetu- 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  135 

osity  he  composes  over  100  lieder  in  the  same  year, 
and  when  he  returns  to  the  large  form  in  his  first 
symphony  there  is  an  unmistakable  clearness  of 
purpose  and  maturity  of  power.  The  impassionate 
earlier  impulse  seems  somewhat  quieter,  the  work 
shows  greater  consistency;  feeling,  imagination  and 
artistic  judgment  of  the  proper  form  are  more  evenly 
balanced,  while  the  perennial  bloom  and  freshness 
of  his  earlier  days  seem  at  times  unabated.  The 
Quintett  (op.  44)  with  piano,  in  the  resplendent 
originality  of  invention,  beauty  of  sound,  the  well 
balanced  proportions,  and  most  of  all  in  the 
reiterated  climax,  is  one  of  the  master-works  of 
ensemble  music;  the  Quartett  (op.  47)  is  almost 
equal  to  it  save  for  the  impassioned  power  of  in- 
spiration; the  Trios  in  D  minor  and  F  major  are  of 
high  merit  though  hardly  to  be  ranked  with  the  two 
other  works  (op.  44  and  47).  The  Concerto  in  A 
minor  is  undoubtedly  one  of  Schumann's  noblest 
works  in  its  true  musical  qualities,  and  in  the  happy 
organic  connection  of  piano  and  orchestra  equal  to 
the  great  concertos  of  Beethoven. 

Schumann's  personal  appearance  made  the  im- 
pression of  a  healthy,  vigorous  constitution,  but  his' 
nervous  system  was  easily  affected,  a  morbid  tension 
of  his  feelings  became  stronger  with  his  years,  and 
the  inclination  to  follow  out  unhappy  moods  seemed 
to  grow  on  him.  Dark  presentiments  filled  his 
mind,  and  strong  emotions  would  bring  on  deathly 
apathy  followed  by  days  of  deep  depression.  The 
power  of  a  naturally  strong  constitution  and  youth- 


136  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

ful  energy  would  for  a  time  gain  the  upper  hand  and 
restore  him  to  his  own  self,  but  every  mental  over- 
taxation would  scatter  the  nervous  system  anew.  A 
habitual  shyness,  which  had  kept  him  under  con- 
tinual restraint  in  his  intercourse  with  the  world  at 
large,  may  have  been  aggravated  by  uninterrupted 
musing  and  pondering;  unpleasant  occurrences  of 
his  daily  life  may  have  exercised  a  baneful  influence; 
as  it  is,  his  later  works  often  show  again  the  aphor- 
istic form  of  the  first  period,  but  the  fresh  vigorous 
rhythm  of  yore  seems  to  lack  repose,  and  the  former 
popular  vein  in  melodious  form  gives  way  to  in- 
creased moodiness, which  often  results  in  a  darksome( 
passionate  coloring.  In  one  of  his  moments  of 
deepest  depression  Schumann  left  his  house  in 
Duesseldorf — fishermen  rescued  him  from  the 
waters  of  the  Rhine,  and  with  all  the  symptoms  of 
mental  derangement  he  passed  the  next  two  years 
in  a  private  asylum  near  Bonn,  where  he  died,  in 
1856. 

Adolph  Henselt  (1814-1885),  one  of  the  great 
pianists  of  later  times,  has  written  two  sets  of  etudes 
which  are  considered  by  many  of  the  highest  value, 
a  concerto  of  great  technical  difficulty,  ensemble 
music  and  character  pieces.  His  works  have  un- 
doubtedly considerable  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  piano  technic,  and  his  character 
pieces  are,  in  the  originality  of  style,  depth  of  feel- 
ing and  careful  adjustment  worthy  of  high  consid- 
eration. Theodor  Doehler  (1814-1856),  a  pianist  of 
elegance  and  taste,  writes  pieces  in  the  light  genre 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  137 

which  are  melodious  and  showy.  Alexander  Dry- 
schock  (1818-1869),  celebrated  for  a  finished  execu- 
tion, has  left  piano  works  which  are  especially  cal- 
culated for  brilliant  playing.  Henry  Litolff  (1818- 
1892),  highly  gifted  as  pianist  and  composer,  leaves 
a  great  number  of  works  of  very  uneven  merit. 
William  Sterndale  Bennett  (1816-1875),  friend  of 
Mendelssohn  and  in  his  works  not  unlike  the  latter, 
is  given  more  to  a  gentle  sentimentality  than  manly 
energy.  Niles  W.  Gade  (1817-1891),  also  largely  in- 
fluenced by  Mendelssohn  in  his  style  of  composition, 
shows  marked  individuality  of  invention  and  a  color- 
ing in  melody  and  harmony,  which  gives  his  works 
(mostly  ensemble)  frequently  the  freshness  and 
fragrance  of  national  character.  Stephen  Heller 
(1815-1888)  makes  in  his  compositions  the  impres- 
sion of  a  well  balanced  individuality,  and  shows  in 
rhythm,  melody  and  harmony  poetic  essence  and 
romantic  spirit. 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  individualities  in 
musical  art  appears  Frederic  Chopin  (1809-1849),  a 
native  of  Poland.  Born  near  Warsaw,  where  his 
father,  a  French  gentleman  from  Nancy  (married  to  a 
Polish  lady),  held  a  professorship  at  the  Lyceum,  he 
was  brought  up  in  a  refined  literary  atmosphere,  and 
his  musical  education  was  carefully  looked  after.  A 
prolific  power  of  improvisation  and  mimicry  were 
noticeable  in  him  in  early  boyhood  and  in  later  years 
he  often  made  use  of  the  latter  for  the  amusement  of 
his  friends.  A  short  concert  tour  to  Vienna  (1829) 
served  largely  to  increase  his  artistic  self-esteem, 


138  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

and  1831  he  left  Warsaw  for  Paris,  where  he  found 
his  second  home. 

Unlike  other  composers,  Chopin  gives  in  his 
works  no  trace  of  any  development  in  style  or  char- 
acter; with  the  exception  of  some  reminiscences  of 
Hummel's  technic  in  the  first  Rondo,  there  is  no  in- 
fluence of  any  kind  manifest;  fully  developed,  this 
musical  genius  enters  the  artistic  world  at  an  age 
which  seems  to  put  even  Mendelssohn's  early  pre- 
cocity into  the  shade.  When  twenty  years  of  age  he 
had  played  his  E  minor  Concerto  on  several  occa- 
sions, and  in  1830  he  played  his  second  Concerto  in 
F  minor  (op.  21);  presumably  all  the  previous  works 
had  been  finished  before  that  time  and,  if  we  con- 
sider that  he  had  written  altogether  some  70  works, 
all  of  which  he  perfected  and  polished  most  care- 
fully, we  may  rightly  estimate  that  he  had  hardly 
entered  his  teens  when  he  wrote  the  first  Rondo. 
More  astonishing  than  such  premature  development 
is  the  fact  that  Chopin  has  hardly  written  a  musical 
phrase  which  is  not  altogether  his  own,  and  that 
everywhere  he  manifests  the  most  scrupulous  nicety 
in  form  and  idea;  only  in  his  last  works  a  notice- 
able decrease  in  artistic  power  is  apparent  in  the 
lack  of  clearness  and  roundness  of  form.  In  all  his 
works  of  whatever  nature  and  form,  Chopin  is  most 
markedly  original;  a  veritable  magician  of  inimi- 
table grace  and  nobility  of  expression,  with  a  sweet, 
attractive  grace  and  gentleness  of  nature,  and  a  mild 
sadness  in  his  dreamy  reverie  which  is  as  bewitching 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  139 

as   his   passionate,    forceful    and   wildly  impetuous 
energy  is  inspiring. 

Limited  in  his  creative  power,  though  by  choice 
only,  to  the  piano,  he  appears  totally  one  sided  in 
comparison  to  the  number  of  great  composers  whose 
productions,  embracing  almost  every  known  variety 
of  art  form,  firmly  establish  their  claim  to  musical 
glory;  yet  in  his  narrow  sphere  he  unfolds  a  truly 
masterful,  rich  and  exuberant  individuality.  The 
wealth  and  truth  of  his  ideas  find  utterance  in  a  lan- 
guage which  is  subject  to  the  syntactic  rules  of  mu- 
sical form  only  in  the  widest  and  most  universal  sense. 
The  symmetry  of  artistic  formation  which  gives  inner 
connection  and  co-relation  to  ideas,  so  that  their 
affinity  becomes  clearly  apparent,  and  the  grouping 
of  parts,  which  defines  their  impulse  in  the  whole 
work,  are  often  lacking;  the  whole  inner  organism  is 
peculiar  and  extraordinary;  harmony,  melody  and 
rhythm  are  of  small  import  as  factors  in  musical  con- 
struction, but,  as  the  master's  power  wills  and  occa- 
sion requires,  they  give  greater  insistence  to  the  flow 
of  ideas,  which  passes  by  as  in  a  succession  of  fanci- 
ful picture-stories.  His  conception  of  tonality  is 
often  vague  and  undecided;  the  different  intervals 
in  the  harmonies  are  so  circumscribed  that  the  im- 
port of  their  tonal  character  is  frequently  lost,  and  a 
harmonious  construction  is  developed  by  enharmonic 
changes  and  chromatic  alterations  which  are  thor- 
oughly capricious,  albeit  extremely  sensitive.  Re- 
plete with  all  the  siren-like  beauty  of  sound,  this 
fantastic  exposition  fills  the  hearer  with  a  languid 


I4O  THE    PIAN'IST'S   ART. 

sensibility  which,  though  always  latent,  never  assumes 
definite  shape.  Of  similar  character  with  his  har- 
monious structure  are  the  melodic  and  rhythmic 
forms  which  it  engenders.  Melody,  with  the  stately 
breadth  and  power  of  a  beautiful  cantilene,  suddenly 
assumes  the  character  of  a  recitative,  or  continues  in 
wonderfully  arabesqued  ornaments;  rhythm,  now 
moving  complacently  with  quiet  composure,  brings 
new  expression,  and  changes  character  almost  from 
measure  to  measure.  Rhythmical  symmetry  is  thus 
continually  broken  in  upon,  and,  while  artistic  repose 
is  sometimes  impaired,  the  composition  gains  in 
strength  of  coloring  and  temperament. 

In  a  thousand  different  ways  he  revels  in  roman- 
tic visions,  and  loses  himself  in  lingering  languish- 
ment  until  sadness  and  gloom  deepened  to  despond- 
ency seem  to  abandon  every  effort;  but  when  with 
full  assurance  of  his  power  he  strides  along  in  the 
splendor  of  martial  rhythm,  when  positive  harmoni- 
ous construction  moves  with  almost  crushing  force, 
as  though  despair  impelled  to  sterner  action,  he 
creates  an  impression  of.  heroic  strength  and  calm 
energy  which  is  truly  imposing  and  overwhelming. 

But  his  heroism  lacks  the  power  of  endurance; 
we  miss  the  crowning  triumph;  the  silvery  notes  of 
a  lightly  fleeting  mazurcck  whimsically  take  its 
place,  or  darkness  and  gloom  gather  anew  oppres- 
sively. Thus  in  ever  changing  variety  moves  the 
dreamy  substance  of  his  poetic  spirit — now  with 
grave  formality,  now  rapt  in  ecstatic  visions  of  in- 
nermost fancy,  and  in  all  the  grace  and  splendor, 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  14! 

mirth  and  humor,  pride  or  defiance,  he  is  shrouded 
in  melancholy  sadness  as  though  overshadowed  by 
impending  doom. 

This  ideal  life  of  Chopin's  bright  visions  and  de- 
lusive fantasms  has  no  touch  of  nature,  no  refresh- 
ing breeze  is  astir  in  sunny  plains;  its  very  source  is 
the  refinement  of  high-bred  society,  the  grateful  fra- 
grance of  the  boudoir,  the  festive  array  of  brilliantly 
illumined  scenes.  With  the  full  assurance  of  inner 
merit,  even  in  outer  appearance,  aristocratic  ele- 
gance guides  the  depth  and  novelty  of  feeling,  and 
obtains  an  expression  of  such  sweet,  melodious 
sound  and  sonorous  dignity,  that  the  qualifications 
of  the  instrument  seem  materially  improved.  With 
this  increased  power  of  utterance  in  the  beauty  and 
variety  of  new  combinations,  a  new  world  of  sound 
seems  to  arise  in  the  wider  chords  and  arpeggios 
and  the  groups  of  ornaments  rising  and  sinking  like 
cascades  of  pearls  in  fermenting  foam. 

Chopin's  organism  was  naturally  refined,  his  con- 
stitution, though  wanting  in  physical  strength,  not 
unhealthy,  a  nervous  irritability  increased  in  later 
years  often  to  gloominess  through  distress  of  mind 
and  violent  nervous  agitation,  but  his  imagination 
had  a  healthy  glow  and  his  emotion  was  all-power- 
ful. What  wonder  that  in  such  contrast  of  mental 
vigor  and  bodily  infirmity  his  very  pa.csion  should 
be  replete  with  feminine  indulgence,  his  energy  void 
of  manly  strength,  and  his  very  humor  veiled  in  sad- 
ness. It  is  certainly  a  triumph  of  his  artistic  poten- 
tiality, and  'shows  the  power  of  his  creative  genius, 


142  THE    PIANIST  S   ART. 

that  in  this  often  inartistic  weakness  of  feeling  and 
the  sudden  extravagance  of  his  moods  he  finds  the 
fitting  form  which  makes  us  overlook  the  cause  in 
the  beauty  of  the  work. 

A  consequent  syntactic  exposition  of  contrast- 
ing motives  is  often  deficient  in  Chopin's  art;  and 
all  the  works  (the  concertos,  sonatas  and  the 
few  ensemble  works),  where  the  larger  form  makes 
the  dramatic  impulse  of  thematic  work  desirable, 
are  in  their  inner  nature  as  works  of  art  less  satis- 
factory. In  the  concertos  the  inner  connection  of 
the  piano  and  orchestra  is  altogether  wanting,  and 
beautiful  in  its  conception  and  the  artistic  repose  as 
is  the  orchestral  introduction  to  the  E  minor  Con- 
certo, it  only  opens  a  series  of  episodes  of  wonder- 
ful poetic  depth  and  refinement  for  the  solo  instru- 
ment, which  could  as  well  miss  the  orchestral  back- 
ground. Even  more  replete  with  poetic  essence  is 
the  second  Concerto,  in  F  minor,  in  the  romantic 
sonority  of  the  first  movement  and  the  inspired  rev- 
erie of  the  Larghetto,  while  the  light,  fleeting,  ex- 
tremely graceful  Mazurka  lacks  the  force  and  dash 
of  a  fit  climax.  The  sonatas  (op.  35  and  58) — so- 
natas in  outer  appearance — are  full  of  the  fantastic- 
ally capricious  and  impassionatc  spirit  of  the  master; 
with  the  subtleness  of  cunning  the  poetical  idea  is 
realized  in  the  sonata  in  B  flat  minor,  while  the  so- 
nata in  B  minor  in  passionate  coloring  of  the  ma- 
terial display  and  great  impulse  in  the  last  movement 
is  the  more  effective  for  concert  purposes. 

It  is  in  the  smaller  forms  of  the  dance,  and  in  the 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  143 

nocturnes  especially,  that  Chopin  stands  unrivalled 
in  all  the  beauty  of  poetic  conception  and  a  pictur- 
esque, fantastic  realization  of  his  dreams.  He 
dances  with  his  whole  soul,  and  with  him  the  spirit 
of  his  people;  in  fanciful  stories  passes  the  romance 
of  Polish  life  in  all  its  pristine  glory  and  recent 
destiny.  The  delightfully  humorous,  melancholy 
and  quizzical  chit-chat  of  the  mazurkas  tells  of  re- 
quited affection,  secret  love,  longing  desire,  tender 
abandon  and  lofty  passion,  and  finds  no  end  of  sadly 
sweet  enigmas.  The  valses  are  full  of  the  spirit  of 
enjoyment,  and  a  merry  throng  enlivens  the  festive 
scenes;  but  the  polonaises  disclose  all  the  ancestral 
pride  and  innate  grace  of  his  ill-starred  nation,  with 
a  wealth  and  depth  of  feeling  and  expression  that 
seem  to  speak  wild  energy  and  bold  defiance  in  the 
roll  of  drums,  and  the  call  of  trumpets;  in  the^ 
measured  step  of  marching  hosts  and  the  trot  of 
charging  horse;  in  the  clash  of  arms  and  the  rush 
of  battle;  in  the  passionate  lament  of  tearful  wail- 
ing and  the  manly  sternness  of  mourning  heroes. 

All  the  power  of  song,  lavishly  ornamented  with 
the  fantastic  bric-a-brac  of  interwoven  fiorituri, 
scintillating  like  the  silvery  rays  of  a  starlit  night, 
bursts  forth  in  the  nocturnes  like  a  breath  of  heav- 
enly inspiration.  The  elegant  finery  of  the  im- 
promptus; the  bolero,  picture  of  southern  passion 
and  languor;  the  whirlwind  of  the  tarantelle;  the 
breadth  and  fiery  impulse  of  the  fantasie;  the  idyllic 
charm  of  the  barcarolle,  and  that  sweetest  of  all 
musical  fantasms,  the  berceuse — all  show  the 


144  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

subtle  refinement  of  the  Polish  tone  poet,  and  his 
ballades  and  scherzos  are  striking  innovations  on 
the  old  forms,  of  great  diversity  of  character  and 
'  dramatic  force. 

The  preludes,  sketches  in  all  the  resplendent 
variety  of  Chopin's  style,  admirable  miniature  por- 
traits of  his  ideal  character,  deserve  with  the  Chopin 
student  a  prominent  place;  and  the  etudes,  full  of 
the  most  excellent  technical  and  musical  material 
for  the  thorough  and  complete  mastery  of  the 
modern  piano,  will  always  insure  their  composer  a 
place  in  the  front  rank  of  piano  literature  even 
with  those  that  fail  to  recognize  the  full  import  of 
his  artistic  mission  in  his  other  works. 

The  central  figure  in  the  musical  life  of  the  nine- 
FSTi-M86.zt  teenth  century  is  Franz  Liszt  (1811-1886),  the 
greatest  master  of  pianistic  art,  whose  influence  in 
musical  matters  for  a  number  of  decades  was  the 
most  remarkable,  steadily  maintained  in  his  per- 
sonal magnetism,  in  his  phenomenal  executive 
ability,  in  his  essays  on  musical  subjects,  in  the 
notable  compositions  in  the  various  branches  of 
musical  art,  in  the  pianoforte  transcriptions  and  the 
long  list  of  famous  pupils,  artists  and  rising  com- 
posers whom  he  befriended  and  brought  into  prom- 
inent notice  for  art's  sake. 

Liszt  was  born  in  Raiding,  Hungary.  His  father, 
a  good  amateur  and  musical  enthusiast,  developed 
his  talents,  so  that  when  nine  years  old  he  played  a 
concerto  by  Ries  in  Oedenburg.  Materially  assisted 
by  wealthy  admirers  of  his  great  promise,  he  pur- 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  145 

sued  his  studies  in  Vienna  under  Czerny  and  Salieri 
and,  after  1823,  in  Paris  under  Reicha  and  Paer. 
Various  concert  tours  were  finally  interrupted  by 
the  father's  death,  in  1827,  and  for  some  years  he 
seems  to  have  been  occupied  with  teaching  and 
literary  work,  eking  out  a  livelihood  in  Paris.  The 
new  social  and  religious  ideas  fermenting  in  the 
revolutionary  elements  of  the  times  found  in  him 
an  enthusiastic  supporter;  sounder  principles,  how- 
ever, prevailed,  and  in  course  of  time  he  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of  such  men  as  Lamartine,  Heine, 
Meyerbeer  and  Chopin.  When  Paganini  appeared 
in  Paris  (1831)  in  the  height  of  success  surpassing 
all  previous  virtuoso  displays,  Liszt's  fiery  nature, 
thoroughly  roused  again,  concentrated  its  efforts  to 
the  piano,  and  within  a  few  years  a  series  of  works 
appeared  of  the  most  gigantic  pianistic  aspirations. 
Thalberg's  success  in  Paris  (1835)  again  brought 
Liszt  to  the  front  in  the  concert  room,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  (1837-1849)  he  scored  a  series  of 
unheard-of  triumphs  in  almost  every  country  and  city 
of  Europe.  In  the  last  named  year  he  took  up  his 
abode  in  Weimar,  where  for  twelve  successive  years 
he  conducted  the  court  concerts  and  operas,  com- 
posing and  teaching.  After  1861  he  lived  partly  in 
Rome,  where  he  took  church  orders,  known  there- 
after as  Abbe  Liszt,  partly  in  Pesth  as  director  of 
the  Hungarian  Musical  Academy,  and  in  Weimar, 
where  a  large  and  select  circle  of  friends  and  pupils 
surrounded  him. 

A   great   pianist,  composer,   conductor,  teacher, 
10 


146  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

\vriter  on  musical  subjects  and  promoter  of  art  for 
art's  sake,  Liszt  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  the  times.  As  pianist  he  has  been  styled 
the  matchless,  the  "  only  "  Liszt  in  the  use  of  the  in- 
strument which  excelled  all  previous  efforts  of  vir- 
tuosos in  brilliancy  and  dash  of  execution,  astonish- 
ing power  and  qualification  of  touch  and  great  in- 
tensity of  feeling,  but  far  more  so  in  the  truthfully 
characteristic  rendition  of  the  master  works  of  piano 
literature.  As  a  composer,  in  his  piano  works,  in  his 
orchestral  arrangements  and  symphonic  poems,  his 
songs,  the  masses  and  oratorios,  he  covers  every 
branch,  almost,  of  musical  art.  As  conductor  he  ele- 
vated the  musical  standard  at  Weimar  by  many  a 
superior  artistic  performance  of  old  and  new  works; 
as  a  teacher  his  influence  on  nearly  all  the  notable 
great  musicians  and  artists  of  the  day  is  undeniable; 
his  essays  on  musical  subjects  are  of  the  highest 
value,  and  his  memory  will  be  dear  to  all  that  be- 
lieve in  the  progressiveness  of  music  as  an  art. 

Liszt's  piano  works  are  exceedingly  numerous 
and  of  great  variety  and  may  be  class!  fied  as  fantasies, 
studies,  transcriptions,  arrangements  and  original 
works  and  it  admits  of  small  doubt  that  most  of 
them  wrere  finished  either  before  or  during  the  years 
of  his  pianistic  triumphs  and  that  comparatively  few 
additions  to  the  list  of  piano  works  were  made  in 
the  later  years,  which  were  devoted  chiefly  to  or- 
chestral works,  songs,  masses  and  oratorios.  Written 
under  the  high  pressure  of  youthful  enthusiasm  and 
with  the  express  purpose  of  showing  his  pianistic 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  147 

ability,  these  works  necessarily  vie  with  similar  pro- 
ductions of  the  day.  The  fantasies  on  operatic  airs 
or  classic  themes  offer  slight  occasion  for  the  dis- 
play of  individual  ideas,  yet,  in  the  arrangement 
and  fabric  of  his  own,  he  manifests  his  superiority 
over  the  more  conventional,  pattern-like  fantasies  of 
Thalberg  and  others.  The  Robert  and  the  Don 
Juan  fantasies  are  the  most  satisfactory  in  their  mu- 
sical make-up  and  especially  the  latter,  a  work  of 
the  most  brilliant  display. 

The  Paganini  studies  are  proof  of  the  marked 
impression  make  by  the  novelty  of  style  and  execu- 
tion in  the  dark  Southerner's  caprices,  and  show  the 
playful  ease  with  which  Liszt  enhances  the  technical 
difficulties  and  adapts  them  to  the  character  of 
the  piano.  The  systematic  development  of  difficul- 
ties in  execution  in  his  "  Etudes  d'execution  trans- 
cendentale  "  evinces  a  technical  mastery  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  possibilities  of  the  instrument  that  gives 
his  style  all  the.  material  advantages  of  Chopin's 
aerial  facility  and  grace  and  Schumann's  orchestral 
polyphony.  Yet,  while  Chopin's  etherial  wellsprings 
rise  and  sink  in  pearly  showers  with  a  genuine  art- 
lessness,  void  of  method  in  their  genial  spontaneity, 
Liszt's  pyrotechnical  display  takes  a  well  arranged 
and  systematically  developed  flight  and  his  orche  - 
tral  polyphony  lacks  Schumann's  harmonic  and 
rhythmical  fermentation. 

The  complete  mastery  of  the  piano,  the  consum- 
mate knowledge  of  all  its  possibilities  and  the  mas- 
ter's discriminating  powers  as  illustrated  in  his 


148  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

transcriptions  of  a  host  of  beautiful  songs  must  be 
admired  in  the  truth  and  simplicity  of  their  repro- 
duction. The  arrangement  of  a  number  qf  overtures, 
organ  fugues  and  fantasies  of  Bach  for  concert  pur- 
poses, and  the  symphonies  of  Beethoven  make  a 
valuable  addition  to  piano  literature.  In  his  original 
works — some  written  for  display  and  very  effec- 
tive: the  two  concertos,  the  polonaises,  tarantellas, 
legendes,  nocturnes  and  the  galop  chromatique — 
others  reflecting  more  strongly  the  qualities  of  his 
inner  life:  the  Consolations,  Harmonies,  Annees  de 
Pelerinage  and  a  sonata  in  B  minor — Liszt  does  not 
obtain  a  uniform  artistic  and  musical  merit;  the 
works  are  full  of  a  certain  material  magnetism  in 
their  sonorous  quality,  of  a  make-up  that  is  often 
sober  and  unimpassioned,  yet  where  the  laborious 
effort  of  compiling  for  artificial  effect  is  unobtrusive, 
a  noble  ideal  life  engenders  occasionally  passages 
of  transcendental  beauty. 

In  his  fifteen  Hungarian  rhapsodies — to  which 
seven  more  were  added  later  of  more  indifferent 
quality — Liszt,  following  the  precedent  of  Chopin 
National  introduced  an  element  distinctly  national  in  rhythm> 
Element.  ancj  melody,  an  element  which  was  destined  to  be- 
come a  prominent  feature  in  the  further  develop- 
ment of  instrumental  music.  Sarabande,  allcmande, 
gavotte,  gigue  and  other  dances,  utilized  in  early 
days  in  the  suite,  wrere  in  name  and  movement  of 
national  origin,  being  respectively  Spanish,  German, 
French  and  English  dance  measures.  Idealized  in 
the  suites  they  became  to  an  extent  individualized 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  I4Q 

by  the  various  composers  as  the  valses  and  laendler 
were,  in  virtue  of  greater  expre:sive  quality  in 
melody  and  rhythm,  elevated  by  Schubert  to  an  ar- 
tistic standard  and  endowed  with  his  own  youthful 
individuality. 

Under  different  climatic  influences,  unequal 
conditions  of  existence  and  unequal  fortunes,  the 
various  nations  assumed  a  different  tenor  of  thought 
and  feeling  strongly  pronounced  in  their  domestic 
habits  and  social  customs,  which  developed  marked 
characteristic  traits  in  their  folk  songs  and  dances. 
The  melodies  of  the  southern  people,  living  under  a 
serene  sky,  with  scanty  care  of  existence,  show  the 
marked  enjoyment  of  a  sensuous  beauty  of  sound; 
the  northern  nations,  surrounded  by  darker  prospects, 
toiling  from  day  to  day,  always  hopeful,  yet  scarcely 
sure  of  the  morrow,  sing  in  grave  and  somber 
strains,  sadly  longing  and  touching— evert  their  har- 
monious essence  shows  an  instinctive  drifting  into 
the  more  plaintive  minor  mode.  Whatever  strongly 
moves  the  heart  bursts  forth  in  song  spontaneously, 
with  no  other  rule  and  order  than  what  natural 
instinct  suggests;  and  folk  songs  are  the  almost 
unintentional  outgrowth  of  human  feelings  which 
seek  expression  where  language  begins  to  fail. 
As  the  nations  by  commercial  and  political  inter- 
course acquire  some  degree  of  culture  and  improve- 
ment, their  instincts  become  more  refined  and  by  a 
certain  discipline  in  mental  training  even  artistic; 
and  their  songs,  though  still  developed  instinctively, 
reflect  their  improved  taste. 


150  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

The  free  reproduction  of  an  ideal  beauty  in  music 
as  an  art  is  accomplished  according  to  strict  artistic 
rules,  and  requires  a  certain  degree  of  symmetry 
and  perfection  in  the  work  which  fashions,  forms 
and  co-ordinates  the  material.  The  material  may 
reflect  a  certain  character,  may  represent  to  the 
imagination  the  various  phases  and  aspects  of  life 
as  it  left  its  impress  on  the  different  people,  and  as 
it  appears  in  their  national  songs  and  dances. 
These  more  or  less  natural  and  inartistic  melodies, 
with  their  quaint  rhythm  and  distinctive  harmonies, 
in  themselves,  in  musical  art  somewhat  heteroge- 
neous elements,  must  be  refined  and  purified  to  be- 
come proper  constituents  and  components  in  a  work 
of  art,  and  the  more  this  material,  in  the  process  of 
preparation,  loses  the  outer  peculiarities  and  the 
more  it  reflects  the  inner  character  of  the  national 
idiom,  the  more  valuable  will  it  become  in  musical 
art. 

Chopin  in  his  polonaises  and  mazurkas  reflects 
all  the  noble  pride  and  elegant  grace  of  his  people 
and  shrouds  the  poetic  essence  of  all  his  works  in  a 
touching,  dreamy  sadness  which  seems  to  be  born  in 
the  sad  fate  of  the  heroic  but  ill-starred  Polish 
nation.  So  Schumann  in  his  burly  humor,  his  depth 
of  sentiment,  his  dreamy  reverie  and  the  force  and 
logic  of  his  ideas  is  as  thoroughly  German,  as  Chopin 
is  Polish.  The  heart-broken  lament,  the  wildly  joy- 
ous shouts  of  the  melodies  of  the  Puszta,  the  strik- 
ing rhythmic  peculiarities  give  Liszt's  Hungarian 
rhapsodies  a  distinctly  national  coloring  (which 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  15! 

can  not  be  traced  in  his  other  works)  and  the  brill- 
iant make-up  of  the  loosely  jointed  melodies  and  the 
dash  and  force  suitable  for  forensic  display  make 
them  dear  alike  to  pianists  and  public. 

The  French  composers  show  a  genial  audacity  in 
rhythmic  refinement  which  frequently  verges  on  the 
extravagant  and  loses  itself  in  brilliant  common- 
place phrases  lacking  alike  feeling  or  sentiments; 
the  works  of  the  later  French  composers  for  this 
reason  often  make  the  impression  of  an  ostentatious 
finery  without  character,  and  the  composers  them- 
selves are,  as  a  rule,  hardly  above  mediocrity.  The 
piano  works  of  N.  H.  Reber,  C.  Stamati,  George 
Mathias,  Chas.  H.  Alkan — the  last  a  composer  of 
high  aspirations,  whose  works  are  very  difficult,  but 
have  a  tawdry  character  even  to  eccentricity — are 
but  little  known.  Saint-Saens,  the  most  prominent 
of  the  French  piano  composers,  has  a  very  thorough 
knowledge  of  and  deep  admiration  for  Bach,  to 
which  commendable  inclination  much  of  the  higher 
musical  quality  in  his  works  may  be  attributable; 
three  concertos,  several  ensemble  works,  solos  and 
transcriptions  from  Bach  are  well  known,  besides  a 
number  of  larger  works  for  orchestra,  chorus,  and 
several  operas. 

The  Scandinavian  folk  songs  and  dances  became 
known  to  the  musical  world  in  the  early  part  of  this 
century.  The  Norwegian  national  airs  seem  to  reflect 
the  grandeur  and  gloom  of  rugged  mountain  scenery 
with  a  mysterious  depth  of  sentiment  and  a  strong 
and  vigorous  fantasie  as  befits  people  who  believe  in 


152  THE    PIANIST'S   ART. 

manly  courage  and  valiant  deeds.  Tender  emotions 
are  rarer,  and  in  the  melodies  that  speak  of  longing 
desire  and  heartsore  affliction  there  is  no  affectation 
of  any  kind;  their  strains  give  vent  to  a  wealth  of 
suffering  in  a  sonorousness  which  is  always  veiled  in 
darkness,  and  requires  a  pathetic  and  declamatory 
rendition.  The  spring  dances  have  a  capricious, 
fantastic  character  full  of  freshly  gushing  power  of 
life;  their  rhythms  often  move  with  a  quick  impulse 
and  suddenly  arrested  motion.  The  Swedish  and 
Danish  melodies  are  of  a  softer  tone  and  romantic 
character;  their  form  often  shows  great  artistic  re- 
finement. 

This  powerful  new  element  has  been  introduced 
in  musical  art  and  can  be  traced  in  the  compositions 
of  N.  W.  Gade,  L.  Norman,  E.  Hartman,  Ed.  Neu- 
pert,  Halfdan  Kjerulf  ( 1818-1870)  and  Edvard  Grieg 
(1843-).  The  compositions  of  the  last  two  have  a 
very  pronounced  Norse  character;  Grieg's  piano 
works  more  widely  known,  are  a  concerto,  sonata, 
ensemble  and  smaller  works. 

A  neo-Russian  school  of  composers,  much  influ- 
enced by  the  German  models,  has  taken  up  the  spirit 
of  the  Slavonic  folk-songs  and  dances  and  has  thus 
given  a  powerful  impetus  to  instrumental  music. 
The  Russian  national  airs  are  exceedingly  numerous 
and  very  varied  in  character.  The  slower  airs,  in 
the  minor  mode,  have  sometimes  remarkable  har- 
monious beauty,  are  of  a  somber,  melancholy  char- 
acter, very  pathetic  and  of  an  indescribably  touch- 
ing sentiment  which  seldom  takes  on  a  lighter  tinge; 


THE    PIANISTS    ART.  153 

those  in  a  major  key  are  generally  lively,  as  though 
intended  for  dances,  and  of  a  sweet,  winning  charm. 
The  harmonious  melodies  of  more  pronounced  mu- 
sical tendency  often  end  their  phrases  with  character- 
istic long  cadences,  show  marked  dissonances  and  a 
shortening  of  the  first  and  lengthening  of  the  second 
beat,  which  causes  a  sort  of  halting  and  dragging  in 
the  rhythmical  construction. 

These  characteristics  have  more  or  less  success- 
fully been  reproduced  in  a  number  of  works — operas, 
oratorios,  symphonies,  etc.  This  element  can  also 
largely  be  traced  in  the  piano  compositions  of  M. 
Glinka  (1803-1857;  small  character  pieces),  Rimsky- 
Korsakoff  (1844 — I  chamber  music  and  shorter 
works),  Cesar  Cui  (suite  and  smaller  works),  Ana- 
tole  Liadoff  (etudes,  etc.),  Mili  Balakirew,  (scherzo, 
fantasie,  etc.),  Anton  Rubinstein  (in  some  of  his 
works)  and  Peter  I.  Tschaikowsky  (1840 — ),  who  is 
the  most  prominent  Russian  composer  of  the  day, 
remarkable  through  his  fire,  depth  of  feeling  and 
spontaneity,  which  is  evident  in  his  concertos,  so- 
natas, ensemble  works  and  character  pieces. 

The  Bohemians  (another  branch  of  the  Slavonic 
race  which  for  ages  has  bsen  well  reputed  for  its 
musical  inclinations),  have  come  into  prominence 
more  recently.  The  strains  which  were  sung  by  the 
Hussites  in  their  grim  wars  are  of  a  most  vigorous 
characteristic  rhythm,  a  darkly  determined  express- 
ion glowing  with  ardent  zeal,  full  of  manly  energy 
and  martial  spirit.  Their  strict  morals  and  deep  re- 
ligious feeling  have  left  their  impress  on  their  hymns 


154  THE    PIANISTS   ART. 

which  have  an  inspired  expression  and  great  beauty 
of  form;  others  of  their  national  airs  are  of  infinite 
tenderness,  quaint  humor  even  to  joviality.  Hans 
Seeling  ( 1828-1862),  Fried.  Smetana,  (1824-1884),  Ed. 
Napravnick,  (1839-)  are  among  their  better  known 
composers,  but  Antonin  Dvorak  (1842-),  seems  to 
have  brought  to  life  again  the  indomitable  spirit  of 
the  old  Hussites,  so  inspired,  so  full  of  intensity  of 
feeling  and  romantic  grace  are  the  compositions 
which  reflect  largely  the  old  national  character  even 
in  the  piano  works — the  Slavonic  dances,  ensemble 
music  and  concertos. 

German  instrumental  music  has  in  its  early  course 
been  largely  influenced  by  France  and  Italy,  but  its 
growth  has  been  a  steady  and  healthy  one  in  its 
purely  artistic  tendency  up  to  the  present  time. 
With  the  great  hosts  of  eminent  composers  the  na- 
tional element  never  rose  to  supreme  importance  in 
musical  art  though  intheir  individuality  they  manifest 
a  more  or  less  pronounced  German  spirit,  as  is  evi- 
dent in  the  works  of  Bach,  Haendel,  Haydn,  Mo- 
zart, Beethoven,  Weber,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn  and 
Schumann.  To  the  fact  that  the  beauty  of  an  ideal 
life  in  its  complete  expression  was  their  ultimate 
object  in  their  works  of  art  is  due  the  high  artistic 
perfection  that  German  instrumental  music  has  ac- 
quired, a  perfection  which  in  the  well  balanced  pro- 
portions of  form,  thought  and  feeling  give  it  a  true 
cosmopolitan  character. 

Joachim  Raff  (1822-1882)  is  one  of  the  promi- 
nent composers  of  the  romantic  school,  and  has 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  155 

written,  besides  a  number  of  other  important  works, 
compositions  for  piano,  solo  and  ensemble.  His 
suites  and  characteristic  pieces  are  brilliant  and 
markedly  original;  his  style  is  reflective  and  strong, 
full  of  happy  harmonious  innovations  and  melodious 
inflections.  He  is  much  given  to  polyphone  writing 
which  not  infrequently  appears  as  the  outgrowth 
of  a  peculiar  fancy  for  scientific  combinations  and 
so  impresses  more  readily  by  its  eccentricity  than 
its  true  poetical  essence.  Carl  Reinecke  (1824-) 
shows  a  genial  and  sympathetic  spirit  in  his  con- 
certos and  the  various  solo  pieces.  His  cadenzas  to 
Mozart  and  Beethoven's  concertos  give  evidence  to 
what  extent  he  has  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  mas- 
ters; the  compositions  for  children  are  full  of  rom- 
ance and  refinement.  Robert  Volkmann  (1815-1883) 
has  valuable  ensemble  music  and  smaller  works. 
Theodor  Kirchner  (1824-)  and  Woldemar  Bargiel 
(1828-1891)  are  largely  influenced  by  Schumann's 
spirit,  and  while  the  first  shows  more  musical  quality 
in  his  smaller  works,  those  of  the  latter  are  more 
pleasing.  Refined  original  sketches  writes  Alex- 
ander Winterberger  (1834-);  Carl  Goldmark  (1832-) 
ensemble  music.  Adolf  Jensen  (1837-1879)  appears 
musing  and  tender  with  a  romantic  coloring,  while 
Josef  Rheinberger  (1839-)  is  eminently  a  scholarly 
writer  in  his  chamber  music  and  piano  solos.  Of 
later  day  and  brilliant  promise  are  Jean  L.  Nicode 
and  Moritz  Moszkowsky. 

Among    the    great    pianists    Anton    Rubinstein    Rubinstein 
(1829-)  easily  ranks  first  in  the  general  excellence  of 


156  THE  PIANIST'S  ART 

a  characteristic  conception  and  genial  rendition  of 
the  master  works  of  piano  literature.  A  superior 
musical  intelligence,  an  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
intentions  of  the  composer,  great  physical  power 
and  endurance,  a  touch  that  responds  to  the  most 
sensitive  refinement,  and  an  intensity  of  feeling  that 
acts  with  the  magnetic  force  of  plenary  inspiration, 
give  his  readings  serene  repose  or  dithyrambic  im- 
petus, tender  abandon  or  heroic  energy.  As  a  com- 
poser Rubinstein  unquestionably  ranks  very  high, 
but  is  more  admirable  in  the  smaller  forms,  where 
the  spontaneity  of  invention  is  not  hampered  by  the 
drudgery  of  labor.  Even  in  the  best  of  his  larger 
works  brilliant  but  barren  reveries  are  encountered 
where  the  fire  of  inspiration  goes  begging  for  lack  of 
mental  restriction.  His  concerto  in  D  minor  is  the 
best  of  his  larger  compositions  for  the  piano,  which 
include  five  concertos,  sonatas,  ensemble  works, 
(some  of  them  very  valuable),  etudes  and  smaller 
pieces;  a  number  of  the  latter  must  certainly  be 
counted  among  the  gems  of  piano  literature.  Hans 
G.  von  Biilow  (1830-),  a  musician  of  great  mental 
astuteness,  pianist  of  great  technical  and  intellectual 
faculties  and  prodigious  memory,  is  one  of  the  first 
conductors  of  the  day.  His  compositions  show  that 
critical  analysis  in  him  is  superior  to  imagination. 
Jan.  Ig.  Paderewski  and  Eugen  d'  Albert,  pianists  of 
exceptional  prominence,  are  composers  of  great 
promise;  the  compositions  of  the  first  are  more  of 
the  pleasing,  popular  kind,  while  those  of  the  latter 
show  markedly  the  scholarly  musician. 


THE  PIANIST'S  ART.  157 

In  point  of  uniform  excellence,  in  the  originality 
of  invention,  the  unadorned  simplicity  and  ingenuous- 
ness of  his  ideas,  the  clear,  logical  development  and 
the  evident  repose  in  the  consciousness  of  his  men- 
tal power,  in  the  conciseness  of  ideal  beauty  and 
perfection  of  form,  an  emotional  life  which  in  its 
expression  is  free  from  excess  and  always  artistic, 
in  his  harmonic  and  rhythmical  construction,  even 
in  the  novelty  of  his  technical  treatment  of  the  piano 
Joh.  Brahms  (1833-)  stands  unrivaled  among  con- 
temporary composers. 

In  his  early  works — three  sonatas,  a  trio,  varia- 
tions, scherzo  and  ballads — Brahms  manifests  a  pro- 
lific power  and  romantic  exuberance  of  fantasie  in 
the  genial  and  poetic  essence  and  the  novel  and 
original  development  of  his  ideas.  The  pregnancy 
and  beauty  of  the  melodies,  the  tender  abandon,  the 
burly  humor,  the  feeling  in  all  its  intensity,  the  well 
planned  though  often  daring  construction  and 
the  playful  mastery  of  piano  technic  give  the  im- 
pression of  a  remarkable  artistic  potentiality.  There 
is  nothing  trivial  or  commonplace;  even  where  his 
melodies  take  on  a  more  popular  color,  the  inven- 
tion is  altogether  of  an  individual  character;  ideal 
beauty  is  his  aim  everywhere,  but  the  beauty  of 
sound  does  not  always  seem  to  claim  primary  con- 
sideration. 

The  variations  (op.  21,  24,  35,  and  23  for  four 
hands)  show  a  daring  flight  of  the  ideas,  a  power  of 
combination  in  the  melodic,  rhythmic  and  harmonic 
reconstructions  of  the  themes  and  a  mastery  in  coun- 


158  THK    I'lAMST's    ART 

terpoint  which  has  no  equal  since  Beethoven.  The 
variations  on  a  Hamdel  theme  (op.  24)  belong  to 
the  best  productions  of  modern  piano  music;  in 
those  entitled  "Studies  for  the  Piano,"  on  a  theme  of 
Paganini's  (op.  35),  it  is  a  trying  question  to  say 
which  is  more  admirable:  the  fantastic  and  withal 
extremely  melodious  new  formations  which  the 
simple  theme  engenders  in  the  composer's  imag- 
ination or  the  novelty  and  the — even  after  Lizst, 
Chopin  and  Schumann — stupendous  technical  diffi- 
culties which  carry  the  aerial  flight  of  capricious 
ideas. 

In  the  valses  for  four  hands  there  is  a  wealth  of 
melody  and  a  variety  of  expression  of  the  most  win- 
ning charm,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  whosoever  fails 
to  see  the  wonderful  beauty  in  these  little  sketches 
has  no  ear  for  music.  The  Hungarian  dances, 
arranged  from  Hungarian  melodies,  speak  for  them- 
selves in  their  well  earned  popularity,  and  the  later 
pieces  (op.  76,  79)  are  continually  gaining  ground 
with  the  sincere  lovers  of  good  piano  music. 

If  in  his  larger  works  for  chorus  or  orchestra, 
and  his  beautiful,  characteristic  songs,  Brahms 
claims  consideration  with  the  great  masters,  he 
asserts  his  powers  no  less  in  his  ensemble  works 
with  piano  and  the  second  concerto;  in  a  quintette 
(op.  34),  three  quartettes  (op.  25,  26,  60),  five  trios 
(op.  8,  40,  87,  101  and  109),  four  sonatas  (op.  38,  78,  IOO 
and  108)  he  develops  a  melodious  beauty,  a  thematic 
work,  a  variety  in  harmonic  and  rhythmic  construc- 
tion and  a  well  defined  character  in  each  composi- 


THE    PIANISTS   ART.  159 

tion  which  secure  him  a  place  among  the  first  com- 
posers of  chamber  and  concerted  pieces.  The  mel- 
odies have  rhythmic  clearness  and  distinctness,  gen- 
erally a  simple  (tonal)  harmonic  structure,  and  fre- 
quently a  markedly  popular  character.  In  his  work 
Brahms  manifests  the  most  complete  artistic  devel- 
opment and  perfect  mastery  over  the  material  in  the 
strictest  forms.  In  the  "Durchfuehrung"  he  con- 
trasts the  motives  by  every  artful  device  of  counter- 
point. His  interchange  of  the  major  and  minor 
modes  is  very  striking,  his  modulations  into  removed 
keys  are  effected  with  ease  and  appear  perfectly 
natural;  the  peculiar  effects  he  often  produces  by 
harmonic  changes  for  greater  intensity  of  feeling  or 
marked  coloring  show  his  masterful  use  of  the  har- 
monic apparatus.  The  rhythm  is  most  varied;  com- 
binations of  different  rhythmical  figures  are  a  fre- 
quent occurrence,  and  striking  are  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  latent  rhythms  in  the  parts  of  the  differ- 
ent instruments. 

When  individual  sentiment  in  art  frequently 
takes  precedence  of  musical  quality;  when  the 
ideal  beauty  and  inspiring  spontaneity  of  invention 
too  often  lack  the  sustaining  power  of  artistic  for- 
mation— noticeable  in  the  number  of  indifferent 
works  of  better  composers  and  in  many  brilliant  but 
unprolific  episodes  in  their  larger  works — it  is  an 
evidence  of  remarkable  artistic  strength  in  Brahms 
that  his  compositions  are  of  an  even  merit  through- 
out, that  they  have  no  inartistic  weakness,  and, 
though  they  may  fail  to  find  ready  appreciation, 


160  THE  PIANIST'S  ART. 

they  are  of  great  persuasive  power  where  their  sim- 
ple beauty  fails  to  convince  at  once.  Brahm's  way 
of  thinking  and  feeling,  his  mode  of  expressing 
what  he  feels,  and  his  whole  artistic  personality  fail 
in  that  sympathetic  essence  which  directly  appeals 
to  sentimentality;  he  never  tries  to  win  by  mere 
outer  charm,  makes  no  concession  to  a  popular 
taste,  and  gives  expression  in  his  own  unceremonious 
way  to  what  moves  him,  but  in  the  unassuming  sim- 
plicity of  his  great  art,  in  the  power  of  his  reasoning, 
in  his  high  aims  and  his  severe  earnestness,  he  is  a 
composer  who  compels  the  admiration  of  all  that 
take  cognizance  of  his  works. 


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